Kirjahaku

A ground-breaking, thrilling historical saga that follows the quest for identity and home in a traumatised post-war world

HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH - THE TIMESOne night in autumn 1944, a gunshot echoes through the alleyways of a small town in occupied Poland. An S.S. officer is shot dead by a young Polish Jew, Margarita Ejzenstain. In retaliation, his commander orders the execution of thirty-seven Poles - one for every year of the dead man's life. First hidden by a German couple, Margarita must then flee the brutal advance of the Soviet army with her new-born baby. So begins a thrilling panorama of intermingled destinies and events that reverberate from that single act of defiance. KINGDOM OF TWILIGHT follows the lives of Jewish refugees and a German family resettled from Bukovina, as well as a former S.S. officer, chronicling the geographical and psychological dislocation generated by war. A quest for identity and truth takes them from Displaced Persons camps to Lübeck, Berlin, Tel Aviv and New York, as they try to make sense of a changed world, and of their place in it. Hypnotically lyrical and intensely moving, Steven Uhly's epic novel is a finely nuanced and yet shattering exploration of universal themes: love, hatred, doubt, survival, guilt, humanity and redemption.For readers of HHHH by Laurent Binet, THE KINDLY ONES by Jonathan Littell, THE ZONE OF INTEREST by Martin Amis, and ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony DoerrTranslated from the German by Jamie Bulloch

"POWERFUL AND ORIGINAL." --THE TIMES"REWARDING AND WHOLLY ENGAGING." --HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY"ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL NOVELS OF RECENT GERMAN LITERATURE." --DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTURHypnotically lyrical and intensely moving, Steven Uhly's epic novel set in the wake of World War II is a finely nuanced yet shattering exploration of universal themes: love, hatred, doubt, survival, guilt, humanity, and redemption. One night in autumn 1944, a gunshot echoes through the alleyways of a small town in occupied Poland. An SS officer is shot dead by a young Polish Jew, Margarita Ejzenstain. In retaliation, his commander orders the execution of thirty-seven Poles--one for every year of the dead man's life. First hidden by a sympathetic German couple, Margarita must then flee the brutal advance of the Soviet army with her newborn baby. So begins a thrilling panorama of intermingled destinies and events that reverberate from that single act of defiance. Kingdom of Twilight follows the lives of Jewish refugees and a German family resettled from Bukovina, as well as a former SS officer, chronicling the geographical and psychological dislocation generated by war. A quest for identity and truth takes them from refugee camps to L beck, Berlin, Tel Aviv, and New York, as they try to make sense of a changed world, and of their place in it.

Die Arbeit wirft anhand von drei zeitgenössischen Romanen ein neues Licht auf das Zusammenspiel von Autor und Text. Der Autor wird im Spiegel seiner Romangestalten betrachtet. Auf beiden Seiten läßt sich dadurch eine Fragmentierung scheinbarer Einheit sichtbar machen, die zudem mit gegenwärtigen Theorien über die innere Vielheit des Subjekts korreliert. Ein Roman ist ein soziales System, das sich aus Autor, Leser und ihren Treffpunkten, den Romangestalten, zusammensetzt. Dahinter steht auch ein ethischer Ansatz: In den untersuchten Romanen wird Gesellschaft in das Individuum verlagert und so deutlich gemacht, daß soziale Veränderung erst beginnt, wenn das einzelne in seiner Vielheit akzeptiert wird. Als Exemplum dient der Autor selbst.