The Reader (W&N Essentials) - Softcover

Schlink, Prof Bernhard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 139960323X ISBN 13: 9781399603232

Publisher: W&N, 2025

Synopsis

The 30th anniversary edition of the classic international bestseller, with a new afterword from Bernhard Schlink

'A masterly work. Read this and read it again' - Observer

'A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of German conscience' - Independent

'Examines the nature of understanding and tests the limits of forgiveness' - Times

For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems.

Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realise that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret.

The Reader is an international bestseller and a true modern classic, the essential Holocaust novel, examining the gap between Germany's pre- and post-war generations, between the guilty and the innocent, and between words and silence.


'For generations to come people will be marvelling over The Reader' - Evening Standard

About this title

About the Author

BERNHARD SCHLINK was born in Germany in 1944. A professor emeritus of law at Humboldt University, Berlin, and Cardozo Law School, New York, he is the author of the internationally bestselling novels The Reader, which became an Oscar-winning film starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes, and The Woman on the Stairs. His latest novel, Olga, was a no.1 international bestseller. He lives in Berlin and New York.

Edition details

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 139960323X
• ISBN 13: 9781399603232
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240