The Dark Room: World War 2 Fiction

(Paperback)

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'An important book, a powerful commentary on the moral issues of the last century with the realisation that no one is completely blameless - extraordinary' Sunday Express The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary Germans- Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour; Lore, a twelve-year-old girl who in 1945 guides her young siblings across a devastated Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and, fifty years later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his loving grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.

Reviews

Intensely observed debut Perfectly balanced * Guardian *
A startlingly powerful debut... Not to be missed * Daily Mail *
Ambitious and powerful... Seiffert writes lean, clean prose. Deftly, she hangs large ideas on the vivid private experiences of her principal characters.... Poignant - and ultimately optimistic... Engrossing * New York Times *
What a bold book... Compelling... Challenging and substantial * Time Out *
Guilt, shame, responsibility, new beginnings, the individual in history - these are Seiffert's subjects, conveyed in a style of deceptive simplicity... Provocative and accomplished * The Times *
Explores the experience of "ordinary" Germans...the descendants of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers...and poses questions about the country's psychological and political inheritance with rare insight and humanity * New Yorker *
A stunning trilogy of linked stories about the Holocaust. Seiffert's book reminds me of Bernard Schlink's The Reader, but unlike that fascinating and intellectually provocative discussion about complicity and collective guilt, The Dark Room never veers away from its fictional roots... It doesn't read like a first novel * Toronto Globe and Mail *
Excellent...a very readable, imaginative attempt to hold essential truths in living memory * The Economist *
It should be on everyone's reading lists * Sunday Times *
The hopelessness of love and passion during one of history's darkest hours is gently eked out... Questions of identity, loyalty and secrets are unavoidable, whether they stand uniformed and proud or lie hidden in a photo album. The Dark Room offers a haunting perspective on the ripples the most extraordinary of actions can cause. Seiffert is sparing with historical specifics, crafting the tale so lovingly that the most affecting moments lie in words unspoken and truths untold * Scotland on Sunday *

Author Bio

The daughter of a German mother and an Australian father, Rachel Seiffert has spent most of her life in Oxford and Glasgow. She now lives in Berlin.