Back to Back (Books That Changed the World)

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Synopsis
&“[A] novel of fractured childhood in East Germany . . . a powerful elegy&” from the author of the international bestseller, The Blindness of the Heart (Booklist, starred review). Echoing themes of Julia Franck&’s German Book Prize–winning novel, The Blindness of the Heart, Back to Back begins in 1954 and centers around a single family living in Berlin in the socialist East. A cruel and unaffectionate mother, Käthe, is a sculptor of Jewish heritage, devoted entirely to becoming a success in the socialist state. Thomas and Ella&’s father emigrated to West Germany after World War II, and they deeply long to see him again. But Käthe&’s hard-nosed brutality—a reflection of the materialistic, unsentimental state in which she lives—means Thomas and Ella are unable to live the lives they want to. As the siblings grow up, &“the enchanted bubble of childhood fades, replaced by a sense of pitiless confinement—an ideological claustrophobia made concrete as the wall is constructed around them, touching off the book&’s devastating climax&” (Vogue). &“Like an expert geologist, Franck is digging deep into her family&’s extraordinary history creating things of great beauty from its dark recesses. Diamond-hard and full of glittering prose, Back to Back is a powerful and moving book. I suspect there are more gems to come.&” —Daily Telegraph &“Intoxicating . . . a curious fusion of stark realism tempered with quirkily stylistic flights of fancy: the trademark of one of Germany&’s finest contemporary novelists.&” —Literary Review &“Mournful and intense . . . captures a slice of life during a particularly harsh and brutal time and place, through the lens of a quickly disintegrating childhood innocence.&” —Bust Magazine
Copyright:
2013

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
Book Size:
338 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780802192943
Related ISBNs:
9780802122872
Publisher:
Grove Atlantic
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Literature and Fiction, Parenting and Family, Politics and Government
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.
Translator:
Anthea Bell

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