This is the fourth novel in the Burgdorf Cycle. This series chronicles the life of the people and events of the small German village. As in all of her novels Hegi's voice shines through here. Hegi chooses the young fourth grade teacher Thekla Jansen to build this story around. We get small morsels of Thekla's childhood sprinkled in with the events and life-changing event that take place in 1934. The reader also gets wonderful insight into what was taking place in Germany after Hitler rose to power but before the invasion of Poland. A very good novel and well worth the time to read. It, or any other novel by Ursula Hegi, will never live up to the standard set in Stones From The River. While I enjoyed this book on the whole, I did find myself getting annoyed with how drawn out it was. The story goes back-and-forth from the late 1800s/early 1900s and 1934, interweaving two stories into one. What felt like the climax (when the main character discovers how the two stories come together) was a huge let down because I had already figured it out halfway through. It was a solid attempt, but too obvious. I also thought it was a bit offensive that the main character turns out to be Jewish. Given the setting, suggesting that her revelation somehow connects her to the suffering of all the people who were known to be Jewish seems to be a bit unfair. A decent read, but not a favorite of mine.
Very well written. How can a woman we admire choose a direction we don't admire?
—mishkah
Interesting way to grapple with understanding German's acceptance of Hitler.
—saif282
This was good, but not as good as Stones from the River.
—tunderbirds
good reminder about the slippery slope.
—trecolli
this will be the last Hegi book I read
—Priya
