description: 'The best novel I read in 1996... an unforgettable tale about love, horror and mercy in Germany before and after 1945' -INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY BOOKS OF THE YEAR 'An electrifying story, told with both passion and restraint... a must' - TAGESSPIEGEL 'Superb' - LE MONDE A schoolboy in post-war Germany, Michael collapses one day in the street and is helped home by a woman in her thirties. He is fascinated by this older woman, and he and Hanna begin a secretive affair. Gradually, he begins to be frustrated by their relationship, but then is shocked when Hanna simply disappears. Some years later, as a law student, Michael is in court to follow a case. To his amazement he recognizes Hanna. The object of his adolescent passion is a criminal. Suddenly, Michael understands that her behaviour, both now and in the past, conceals a deeply buried secret.
language: English
title: The Reader
titlecomplete: The Reader
characters: Hanna Schmitz, Michael Berg
genres: Fiction, Historical, War, German Literature, Romance, Classics, Holocaust, Germany, Historical Fiction, World War II
ratings_count: 204177
places: Germany
awards: awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Los Angeles Times Book Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Exclusive Books Boeke Prize, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Prix des libraires du Québec
category: Lauréats hors Québec, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Prix Laure Bataillon, awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Premio Grinzane Cavour
category: Narrativa Straniera, awardedAt: 946713600000
name: Ελληνο-γερμανικό Βραβείο Μετάφρασης
category: Ιάκωβος Κοπερτί, awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Dublin Literary Award
category: Shortlist
publisher: Ulverscroft