num_pages: 218
description: Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany. When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover--then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.
language: English
title: The Reader
titlecomplete: The Reader
characters: Hanna Schmitz, Michael Berg
genres: Historical, German Literature, Classics, World War II, Germany, Holocaust, War, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance
ratings_count: 204164
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: Vintage International / Vintage Books