The German House

by Annette Hess Narrated by Nina Franoszek

Overview

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, Jürgen 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 Jürgen 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.

Editorial Reviews

JANUARY 2020 - AudioFile

Finding answers and hope through post-Holocaust fiction is a challenge, yet this gripping audiobook succeeds because of the power of the dialogue as delivered by narrator Nina Franoszek. From the beginning, Annette Hess’s novel uses an unusual approach to the 1963 Auschwitz war crimes trials in Frankfurt. The story focuses on Eva Bruhns, a naïve 24-year-old who accepts a job as a translator at the tribunal. As Eva does her job, she begins to question her own family’s conduct during and after the war, and comes into conflict with Jurgen Schoormann, whom she plans to marry. Franoszek captures Eva’s emotions with intensity and, at times, a surprisingly realistic tone of wonderment, both of which highlight the questions and anger bottled deep inside Eva. The result is a powerful performance by Franoszek that complements the novel superbly. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

09/30/2019

Hess’s strong debut follows Eva Bruhns, who works as an interpreter at the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials in 1963 Germany, in which German defendants have been charged with crimes they perpetrated at Auschwitz during WWII. Eva becomes emotionally invested as she interprets the testimonies of Polish witnesses from Polish to German, but she doesn’t understand why her parents, Edith and Ludwig, owners of the German House restaurant, don’t seem to care about the trial. As Eva continues her work and makes a trip to Auschwitz along with other members of the trial team, she uncovers secrets her parents have hidden from her about her father’s work during the war. The period detail is impressive, but the highlight is Eva, a complex and thoughtful woman who finds herself in the midst of a significant moment in history. This novel will appeal to both WWII fiction fans and those seeking historical novels anchored by a strong, memorable heroine. (Dec.)

From the Publisher

"A strong debut... the highlight is Eva, a complex and thoughtful woman who finds herself in the midst of a significant moment in history."  — Publishers Weekly

“From the first page THE GERMAN HOUSE creates a movie in the reader’s mind and it doesn’t tear off until the last chapter.” — Der Spiegel / Literaturspiegel, Claudia Voigt

“No one knows how to turn contemporary history into perfect entertainment like screenwriter Annette Hess.” — Extra, Brigitte Bücher

“With the story of the young translator Eva, Annette Hess, like in her screenplays, makes contemporary history tangible, fills it with life. . . .  The name Annette Hess warrants exceptional quality.” — Stern, Kester Schlenz

“It’s a rare thing to read a historical novel that feels so tangible and real. Here we are, almost 50 years later and far, far away from Frankfurt and yet the novel seamlessly transports us to a different time and place. Every scene is described like a painting so much so that we become part of the scene.” — Yedioth, Israel

"Questions of complicity and culpability are resolved by prosecutors and daughters alike in Hess' reveal of large truths which are obscured by larger lies." — Kirkus Reviews

Brigitte Bücher Extra

No one knows how to turn contemporary history into perfect entertainment like screenwriter Annette Hess.

Kester Schlenz Stern

With the story of the young translator Eva, Annette Hess, like in her screenplays, makes contemporary history tangible, fills it with life. . . .  The name Annette Hess warrants exceptional quality.

Der Spiegel / Literaturspiegel

From the first page THE GERMAN HOUSE creates a movie in the reader’s mind and it doesn’t tear off until the last chapter.

Isreal Yedioth

It’s a rare thing to read a historical novel that feels so tangible and real. Here we are, almost 50 years later and far, far away from Frankfurt and yet the novel seamlessly transports us to a different time and place. Every scene is described like a painting so much so that we become part of the scene.

Kester Schlenz Stern

With the story of the young translator Eva, Annette Hess, like in her screenplays, makes contemporary history tangible, fills it with life. . . .  The name Annette Hess warrants exceptional quality.

Kester Schlenz stern

With the story of the young translator Eva, Annette Hess, like in her screenplays, makes contemporary history tangible, fills it with life. (...) The name Annette Hess warrants exceptional quality.

Library Journal

05/01/2020

In this fiction debut from German screenwriter Hess, set in the early 1960s, 24-year-old Eva Bruhns hardly thinks about the war until she is hired to translate for some former Polish prisoners. Then she's disturbed enough to join the prosecutors' team in what would become the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 1963. With 75,000-copy first printing.

Kirkus Reviews

2019-09-15
What is the cost of learning the truth? And who is responsible for telling that costly truth?

A prosecutor's exhortation to learn "every conceivable" Polish word for "how to kill a person" is an early signal to a naïve German interpreter, called in 1963 to translate at the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, that she will soon confront truths about the past never before revealed. Eva Bruhns, a young woman still living with her parents—the proprietors of the eponymous German House restaurant—looks forward to a betrothal to Jürgen Schoormann, her reserved boyfriend, and routinely works as a Polish-language interpreter in mundane contract matters and business disputes. Her sister, Annegret, works as a pediatric nurse while younger brother Stefan dotes on the family's black dachshund. The Bruhns are a thoroughly average family. Eva's growing awareness of the atrocities perpetrated by the Auschwitz defendants, coupled with a vague sense of déjà vu, jolts her out of complacency and ignorance about the role the average German citizen played during the war. Eva's increasing passion to secure justice for the victims of Auschwitz, whose stories she absorbs daily, contrasts vividly with the attitudes and actions of her neighbors (and family members), whose desire to leave the past behind is clear. Hess, a popular television screenwriter in Germany, delivers scenes and dialogue in a linear sequence, and it is easy to envision almost any of the scenes (courtroom or dining room) on screen via the straightforward translation by Lauffer. Less linear are the continuing deceptions Eva confronts on an average day, in an average life, in an average city.

Questions of complicity and culpability are resolved by prosecutors and daughters alike in Hess' slow reveal of large truths which are obscured by larger lies.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172747632
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/03/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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