This large and ambitious novel is timely, given the apparent rise in popularity of extremist political parties throughout Europe. Lucy Beckett sets her story in inter-war Germany. She shows, painstakingly, how Nazism spread its poisonous roots in the fertile soil of a disrupted, demoralised and divided country, and how those who refused to accept its doctrine were turned into aliens within their own homeland.
In 1961, Max Hofmann, a violin teacher, is dying in London, where he has lived in safe but empty exile. He was once Max von Hofmannswaldau, a Prussian aristocrat and an intellectual lawyer. On his deathbed he charges his favourite pupil, a girl of 17, to uncover his story and that of his friends. He gives her a postcard with seven names on it, the last name his own. ‘Hitler killed all of us’, he tells her, ‘Or Stalin.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in