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The Granddaughter: A Novel

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Description

“Compelling . . . unfailingly interesting, building suspense as readers wonder what will happen” —Booklist (starred review)“Schlink knows how to tell a gripping yarn . . . [The Granddaughter] is a rewarding and wonderfully readable novel.” —The Guardian“A brilliant dissection of a fragmented nation in which a glimmer of hope relieves a somber but wholly memorable tale.” —Kirkus (starred review)From the bestselling author of The Reader, a striking exploration of the past, told through the story of a German bookseller’s attempt to connect with his radicalized granddaughter.It is only after the sudden death of his wife, Birgit, that Kaspar discovers the price she paid years earlier when she fled East Germany to join him: she had to abandon her baby. Shattered by grief, yet animated by a new hope, Kaspar closes up his bookshop in present day Berlin and sets off to find her lost child in the east.His search leads him to a rural community of neo-Nazis, intent on reclaiming and settling ancestral lands to the East. Among them, Kaspar encounters Svenja, a woman whose eyes, hair, and even voice remind him of Birgit. Beside her is a red-haired, slouching, fifteen-year-old girl. His granddaughter? Their worlds could not be more different— an ideological gulf of mistrust yawns between them— but he is determined to accept her as his own.More than twenty-five years after The Reader, Bernhard Schlink once again offers a masterfully gripping novel that powerfully probes the past’s role in contemporary life, transporting us from the divided Germany of the 1960s to modern day Australia, and asking what unites or separates us.Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperVia (January 7, 2025)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063295237


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 30


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.01 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #49,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #218 in 20th Century Historical Fiction (Books) #1,386 in Literary Fiction (Books)


#218 in 20th Century Historical Fiction (Books):


#1,386 in Literary Fiction (Books):


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Sunday, May 18

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Secrets that gave value to a life
A very good novel that speaks frankly about modern Germany. An East German woman fell in love with a West German boy and with time he decided to help her escape so that they could live in the West and build better lives. When the Berlin Wall fell, everybody was happy for the Germans thinking they would be extremely excited for having a unified country again. Kaspar is madly in love with his wife Birgit. She says she is a writer and intends to write a book, but she starts drinking too much, becomes withdrawn, and does nothing. He does not know why but as long as she is with him, nothing else matters, until she can take it no more and kills herself. When he starts cleaning up, he finds some of her writings and discovers dark secrets she kept from him. She had a daughter who she gave away and expressed that her wish was to meet "this happy woman". When he finds her, she is not what anybody would have thought and she has a daughter. Kaspar devotes his life helping to bring her up and finds new meaning in his life. This is a book that honestly explains how different East and West Germany were, they grew to be like two different countries, unlike what all of us ever thought. a real vision of that part of Europe. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2025 by Patricia Ibarra

  • Interesting topic
There are so many works of fiction regarding the war and the holocaust and I really thought this was going to be similar, however, the author, as only authors can do, takes you on a totally different ride in this book. After losing the love of his life and discovering that he has a granddaughter from a step daughter he never knew existed, Kaspar, a bookstore owner, must research to find them. As a long lost hope to have a connection to the stepdaughter he never knew and to bind him more closely to his love and loss, Kaspar sets out to create a bond with a girl he has never known nor never met. The problem? He lives in what was referred to as the free west of Germany and she lives in the former communist part of East Germany. Though the wall is gone, the barriers of different ways of life are not. It is these barriers he will need to overcome if he wishes to reach this family he never knew he had. The author has done an incredible job of conveying to the reader the variations in their social status, religion, community interactions, celebrations, and overall the differences in their way of life. Dealing with a family that has only known life in a communistic commune lifestyle where everyone contributes to day to day life including the children to the differences of his free democratic lifestyle, the family must reach past that and work together to create a bond that will last. Can that happen when two people have known totally different lifestyles? That is the question that will have you delving into this book with unabashed interest. A very eye opening book about a revolving country trying to recover from war when there are completely different views and opinions on both sides of the wall and what happens when that wall is obliterated. Overall, a very good read that keeps you engrossed and enlightens your mind on what Germany did after the war. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2025 by Tina Galli

  • Excellent story
I love this author’s writing style. The story this book tells is a compelling one, about the relationship between the widower of a woman who secretly gave up her baby for adoption and the daughter of that adopted child. It bridges two very different German cultures.
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2025 by AvidReader

  • complicated yet simple
Quite a journey this unusual novel takes you on. I learned a great deal about Germany and most of all the complicated entwinings of two remarkable people.
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2025 by SBR

  • so good!
From the first page to the last, I loved this book. What a wonderful story! Complicated conflict between East German nationalists and all outsiders. Mother got out of the East to marry, but left her newborn behind. After her death (suicide?), her husband started the search. The search for the daughter…the arrangement for the grandfather to pay to have his granddaughter spend time with him. Her learning about the larger world…. So much to love and absorb. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2025 by voracious reader

  • Okay
Enjoyable but a bit too long. I skipped a lot of detailed descriptions about landscape and flowers. It's worth the time.
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2025 by Tina Truck

  • Informative
Beautifully written and informative especially regarding East Germany
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2025 by Holly

  • probes the past’s role in contemporary life, transporting us from the divided Germany of the 1960s
Well-written and translated this novel is really a love story between a West German man and his damaged East German wife and her legacy and secrets which he finds after her early and questionable death, and the daughter she gave up as a young girl before she escaped the East, between a family's dedication and love of their ideology verses the modern world, their daughter and life. A novel that powerfully probes the past’s role in contemporary life, transporting us from the divided Germany of the 1960s. I loved it as I loved his other book, The Reader. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2025 by Penny Balogh

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