I am thrilled that my first review from Germany is so positive on the blog literaturschock - "A SUCCESSFUL DEBUT FROM AUSTRALIA".
"Julian Leatherdale has completely convinced with a mix of historical facts and a sensitive yet exciting fictional story... I empathise well with the characters...successful twists keep the voltage ... high...a very convincing debut...it has hardly left me while reading."
I include below an excerpt (for non-German speakers like myself) in a Google translate version (my apologies) to give some indication of this enthusiastic and thoughtful review.
_A core theme of the novel is the situation of German immigrants and their descendants around the I. and II. World War. Even if many of German descent were now firmly integrated and naturalized, they were quickly stigmatized with the beginning of the war and soon interned as potential spies. The warehouse from which the author tells Julian Leatherdale, actually existed and is a sign of the rising anti-German sentiments that sparked in many English-speaking countries, especially the II. World War. That this was also the case in Australia, however, I have only learned by reading this book.
Mich Julian Leatherdale has completely convinced with its mix of historical facts and a sensitive, yet exciting fictional story. The story is in the third person from different angles, which represent different times tells and thus makes an overview possible. I could understand the different perspectives, I empathize well with the characters and thus also dive into the action. In addition, successful twists keep the voltage constant high so that kept really caught me the book ...
For me, a very convincing debut that has convinced me all along the line! It has hardly left me while reading._
