A debut novel about a life-changing romance in the long shadow of European history inspired by
the author's real discovery. 'A singular portrait of intoxicating young love' AUBE REY LESCURE
'You wouldn't be able to put it down' SAMANTHA ROSE HILL For years after I tried to tell
myself that what happened between us was hardly worth remembering. Harvard 1996. Anna is
about to graduate when she meets Christoph a German student visiting campus. They only spend a
week together - discussing art ideas and history - but it is long enough for Anna to fall
desperately in love. Anna begins to visit Christoph in Germany. As she tries to understand the
young elegant man who fascinates her he reveals his country to her. Germany is still
reckoning with the Holocaust and its pretty new squares and grand facades belie its recent
history and the war's destruction. Christoph condemns his country's actions but remains vague
about the part his own grandparents played. Anna's grandfather meanwhile was an American GI
who took photos of the end of the war photos that capture its horror preserved in a scrapbook
only Anna has seen. Anna wants to believe in Christoph and the future he promises her but as
their relationship becomes increasingly unsettling she must face up to everything she has been
unwilling to see and everything Christoph has chosen to ignore. 'An elegant unsettling
novel about the burden of history and the illusions of love' Sana Krasikov author of The
Patriots 'Heather Clark writes with a rare empathy' Times Literary Supplement
