The Undertaking by Audrey Magee Published by Grove Press on September 2nd 2014
Pages: 304
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Format: Hardcover
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From a remarkable new talent in Irish fiction comes a terrifyingly intimate story of a war marriage caught up in the calamity of World War II, a much anticipated debut which has garnered prepublication praise from Colm Toibin, Hugo Hamilton, A.D. Miller, and Chris Cleave.
In a desperate bid to escape the trenches of the Eastern front, Peter Faber, an ordinary German soldier, marries Katharina Spinell, a woman he has never met, in a marriage of convenience that promises ‘honeymoon’ leave for him and a pension for her should he die in the war. With ten days’ leave secured, Peter visits his new wife in Berlin and both are surprised by the passion that develops between them.
When Peter returns to the horror of the front, it is only the dream of Katharina that sustains him as he approaches Stalingrad. Back in Berlin, Katharina, goaded on by her desperate and delusional parents, ruthlessly works her way into Nazi high society, wedding herself, her young husband, and her unborn child to the regime. But when the tide of war turns and Berlin falls, Peter and Katharina find their simple dream of family cast in tragic light and increasingly hard to hold on to.
Reminiscent of Bernard Schlink’s The Reader, this is an unforgettable novel of marriage, ambition, and the brutality of war, which heralds the arrival of a breathtaking new voice in international fiction.
About Audrey Magee
Audrey Magee worked for twelve years as a journalist and has written for, among others, The Times, The Irish Times, the Observer and the Guardian. She studied German and French at University College Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University. She lives in Wicklow with her husband and three daughters. The Undertaking is her first novel.
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Jasprit
Oh wow this book sounds amazing Bonnie, I have a feeling it will be a bit heartbreaking, but I don’t mind that at all! Thanks for putting this on my radar!
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Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies
Oh, sounds great! I love the cover too!
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Heidi
Whoa sounds like an intense read. I love this era and I would certainly like to check this out. Thanks for sharing, Bonnie.
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Rachel @ Paper Cuts
I don’t read much outside of YA (that’s not for school, at least), but I just love the sound of this and will definitely have to check it out! Great pick Bonnie!
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