This is an utterly brilliant debut novel. I see it has won many awards and this doesn't surprise me at all. It's a fine piece of work that catches the reader on the first page and doesn't allow him to flag until the very last page. A great start to a promising career for this emerging writer.
In historical writing about this place and time we don't often see a focus on the complex issues faced by the German survivors, and this was beautifully and sensitively handled. The slow emergence of the mystery was beautifully done, and the author has managed to avoid any trace of facile sentiment while invoking a deep sympathy for the trauma and shame of the conquered German people as they deal with the aftermath of the Reich.
The one criticism I really have was that there were several instances in narrative of 'lay' used intransitively. Jutting out from such beautifully competent writing, these stuck out, if I may use a popular expression, like dogs' balls. I was very sorry to see this, and thought long and hard about awarding the fifth star, but in the end I could not withhold it from a work as talented as this.
In historical writing about this place and time we don't often see a focus on the complex issues faced by the German survivors, and this was beautifully and sensitively handled. The slow emergence of the mystery was beautifully done, and the author has managed to avoid any trace of facile sentiment while invoking a deep sympathy for the trauma and shame of the conquered German people as they deal with the aftermath of the Reich.
The one criticism I really have was that there were several instances in narrative of 'lay' used intransitively. Jutting out from such beautifully competent writing, these stuck out, if I may use a popular expression, like dogs' balls. I was very sorry to see this, and thought long and hard about awarding the fifth star, but in the end I could not withhold it from a work as talented as this.
The Roses Underneath is available from AMAZON in kindle, paperback and audio formats.
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