I would quickly run out of fingers if asked to name all the books I have read about World War II. I’d have to use all my husband’s and probably most of the neighbours’ as well.
There are not quite so many about the effects of the aftermath in Britain, but still plenty to choose from.
And there are many, though arguably never enough, from the point of view of survivors of persecution.
However the view of what it was like to be an ‘ordinary German’ in the aftermath of the war is rather unexplored in English language fiction. And it is a fascinating area to look at, how to rebuild life in the face of defeat.
1946. Postwar Germany. Our hero/antihero, Clara, once a wartime icon and heiress to the Falkenberg iron works, we meet first as she is about to cement a relationship with a doctor, clearly trying to make a new start. But instantly we discover the dark side behind the doctor’s nice facade, beginning the theme of reversal of first impressions which the author continues to explore through the book. Clara travels back to the hometown she fled at the end of the war, in an attempt to find out what happened to her old friend Elisa, whilst trying to avoid being hunted down by Allied forces for her alleged war crimes.
It is a tense, noirish plot with dangers at every turn as Clara is drawn into working with Jakob, a charming disabled ex-soldier with his own agenda.
It’s a fascinating world of ambiguity, in an area we so often think of as being black and white. How much ‘good’ do you have to do to negate the ‘bad’? Clara grapples with her own guilt and questions the certainties she grew up with and her own perceptions of the people she loved as her family’s secrets catch up with her.
The historical details and descriptions are well-drawn. Possibly the characterisations are lacking a little, I certainly found Jakob a more convincing character than Clara, who never seems to challenge what she is told, making it hard to believe she could ever have run a business. But I found the story moved along quickly and compellingly – yes I stayed up late to finish it.
The author Anika Scott is an American married to a German who lives in Essen where The German Heiress is set. She runs an online resource about post-war German history – www.postwargermany.com which is well worth exploring as well.
Publisher Windmill Books ppb £8.99 – on 18th February
Published in hardback as Finding Clara