An extraordinary work of fiction, inspired by historical events--an
exquisitely crafted double portrait of a Nazi war criminal and a
family savaged by World War II, conjoined by an actual house of
horrors they both called home On a street in modern-day Norway, a
writer kneels with his son and tells him that according to Jewish
tradition, a person dies twice: first when their heart stops beating,
and then again the last time their name is read or thought or said.
Before them is a stone engraved with the name Hirsch Komissar, the
boy's great-great-grandfather who was murdered by Nazis. The man who
sent Komissar to his death was one of Norway's vilest traitors, Henry
Oliver Rinnan, a Nazi double agent who set up headquarters in an
unspectacular suburban house and transformed the cellar into a torture
chamber for resisters, a place to be avoided and feared. That is until
Komissar's own son, Gerson, and his young wife, Ellen, take up
residence in the house after the war. While their daughters spend a
happy childhood playing in the same rooms where some of the most
heinous acts of the occupation occurred, the weight of history
threatens to pull the couple apart. In Keep Saying Their Names, Simon
Stranger uses this unusual twist of fate to probe five generations of
intimate and global history, seamlessly melding fact and fiction,
creating a brilliant lexicon of light and dark. The resulting novel
reveals how evil is born in some and courage in others--and seeks to
keep alive the names of those lost.
Les mer
A novel
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780525657378
Publisert
2019
Utgiver
Random House Digital Inc.
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter