The German House
Published on 20. October 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-06-291030-1 (ISBN)
Description
As seen in the New York Times Book Review.
A December 2019 Indie Next Pick!
Set against the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, Annette Hess's international bestseller is a harrowing yet ultimately uplifting coming-of-age story about a young female translator-caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power-as she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation's past.
If everything your family told you was a lie, how far would you go to uncover the truth
For twenty-four-year-old Eva Bruhns, World War II is a foggy childhood memory. At the war's end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now it is 1963, and the city's streets, once cratered are smooth and paved. Shiny new stores replace scorched rubble. Eager for her wealthy suitor, Juergen Schoormann, to propose, Eva dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva's plans are turned upside down when a fiery investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial.
As she becomes more deeply involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family's silence on the war and her future. Why do her parents refuse to talk about what happened What are they hiding Does she really love Juergen and will she be happy as a housewife Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience , joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice-a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.
Translated from the German by Elisabeth Lauffer
A December 2019 Indie Next Pick!
Set against the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963, Annette Hess's international bestseller is a harrowing yet ultimately uplifting coming-of-age story about a young female translator-caught between societal and familial expectations and her unique ability to speak truth to power-as she fights to expose the dark truths of her nation's past.
If everything your family told you was a lie, how far would you go to uncover the truth
For twenty-four-year-old Eva Bruhns, World War II is a foggy childhood memory. At the war's end, Frankfurt was a smoldering ruin, severely damaged by the Allied bombings. But that was two decades ago. Now it is 1963, and the city's streets, once cratered are smooth and paved. Shiny new stores replace scorched rubble. Eager for her wealthy suitor, Juergen Schoormann, to propose, Eva dreams of starting a new life away from her parents and sister. But Eva's plans are turned upside down when a fiery investigator, David Miller, hires her as a translator for a war crimes trial.
As she becomes more deeply involved in the Frankfurt Trials, Eva begins to question her family's silence on the war and her future. Why do her parents refuse to talk about what happened What are they hiding Does she really love Juergen and will she be happy as a housewife Though it means going against the wishes of her family and her lover, Eva, propelled by her own conscience , joins a team of fiery prosecutors determined to bring the Nazis to justice-a decision that will help change the present and the past of her nation.
Translated from the German by Elisabeth Lauffer
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 135 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
322 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-291030-1 (9780062910301)
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Other editions
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Person
Annette Hess grew up in Hanover and currently lives in Lower Saxony. She initially studied painting and interior design, and later scenic writing. She worked as a freelance journalist and assistant director, before launching a successful career as a screenwriter. Her critically-acclaimed and popular television series Weissensee, Ku'damm 56 and Ku'damm 59 are credited with revitalising German TV. She has received numerous awards from the Grimme Prize to the Frankfurt Prize to the German Television Prize. The German House is her first novel.