{"title":"Books by Prof Bernhard Schlink","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780753823293","title":"The Reader","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of a German conscience'  [Independent on Saturday]\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYears later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204103110834,"sku":"9780753823293","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780753823293_c01a35d8-e81b-45fa-a710-fc0cc2ecdb4b.jpg?v=1786015732"},{"product_id":"9781399603232","title":"The Reader","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe 30th anniversary edition of the classic international bestseller, with a new afterword from Bernhard Schlink\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A masterly work. Read this and read it again' - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of German conscience' - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Examines the nature of understanding and tests the limits of forgiveness' - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTimes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYears 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e The Reader \u003c\/i\u003eis 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'For generations to come people will be marvelling over The Reader' - \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55896370184565,"sku":"9781399603232","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399603232_52337a2a-b7b1-4dc6-b0e8-f6f3959c67c4.jpg?v=1786019338"},{"product_id":"9781399614870","title":"The Granddaughter","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Anyone who wants to understand contemporary Germany must read \u003ci\u003eThe Granddaughter\u003c\/i\u003e now' \u003ci\u003eLe Monde \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'The great novel of German reunification' \u003ci\u003eLe Figaro \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A masterpiece' Maurice Szafran\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMay, 1964. At a youth festival in East Berlin, an unlikely young couple fall in love. In the bright spring days, anything seems possible for them - it is only many years later, after her death, that Kaspar discovers the price his wife paid to get to him in West Berlin. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShattered by grief, Kaspar sets off to uncover Birgit's secrets in the East. His search leads him to a rural community of neo-Nazis, and to a young girl who accepts him as her grandfather. Their worlds could not be more different - but he is determined to fight for her.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From the author of the no.1 international bestseller \u003ci\u003eThe Reader\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Granddaughter\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping novel that transports us from the divided Germany of the 1960s to contemporary Australia, asking what might be found when it seems like all is lost.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTranslated from the German by Charlotte Collins\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55897369543029,"sku":"9781399614870","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399614870_84e0704e-5b6b-4a2f-9877-294249e81e0a.jpg?v=1786019657"},{"product_id":"9780753828465","title":"The Gordian Knot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA prize-winning Cold War spy novel from the author of international megaseller THE READER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYoung lawyer Georg Polger gives up a comfortable existence in Germany to work as a freelance translator in the South of France. But business in the picturesque village is far from booming, and Georg struggles to make ends meet. One day he is approached by a certain Mr Bulnakov, who wants Georg to take over a local translation agency. The previous owner has just died in mysterious circumstances. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEverything seems to be going perfectly: Georg falls in love with Bulnakov's attractive secretary, Francoise, and takes on a lucrative project left unfinished by his predecessor, translating plans for military helicopters. But everything changes when Georg notices Francoise copying his plans. She tells Georg that Bulnakov has threatened to harm her brother, who lives in Poland, if she refuses to do his bidding. When Georg confronts Bulnakov Francoise disappears, and mysterious elements within the village try to hound him out. All he has left of Francoise is a picture she gave him of a church, which she told him was in Warsaw.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut when a friend tells him the church is actually in New York, Georg flies to America in a desperate bid to track down Francoise, and unravel the web of deceit. Tailed from his arrival, Georg quickly realises that he is stuck between the CIA and the KGB, and further out of his depth than he can begin to comprehend. But which side was he working for? Who is the mysterious Mr Bulkanoff? And did he ever know the real Francoise?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294715064693,"sku":"9780753828465","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780753828465_e3c78877-06d1-4647-a75d-377b0c2c7bc2.jpg?v=1786015861"},{"product_id":"9780753813973","title":"Flights of Love","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Perfectly crafted, intricate and haunting stories'  from the bestselling author of THE READER.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA mesmeric collection of stories about love. In his characteristically unsentimental, elegant and spare prose, Schlink unveils characters and relationships haunted by betrayal and guilt, in situations where self-examination is inescapable. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFLIGHTS OF LOVE consists of seven stories, all of them weaving around the idea of love - why people are drawn to it and why some run away. Schlink shows us in turn love as desire, love as confusion, love as a quick affair, love as a drastic life-changing rebellion, love as a force of habit, love as self-betrayal. The cumulative effect is a book which uses effortlessly beguiling language to examine the universal human desire to find a lasting loving relationship, however thwarted that desire ultimately is.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294715720053,"sku":"9780753813973","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780753813973_a8b651b1-b1b5-4363-93dd-3e63ea275862.jpg?v=1786016478"},{"product_id":"9781474601009","title":"The Woman on the Stairs","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor decades the painting was believed to be lost. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut, just as mysteriously as it disappeared, it reappears, an anonymous donation to a gallery in Sydney. The art world is stunned but so are the three men who loved the woman in the painting, the woman on the stairs. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne by one they track her down to an isolated cottage in Australia. Here they must try to untangle the lies and betrayals of their shared past - but time is running out.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Woman on the Stairs\u003c\/i\u003e is an intricately-crafted, poignant and beguiling novel about creativity and love, about the effects of time passing and the regrets that haunt us all.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56301185892725,"sku":"9781474601009","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781474601009_9cb3e2e4-1807-4a31-a64a-a647d821cbaf.jpg?v=1786020549"},{"product_id":"9781474611152","title":"Olga","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Bernhard Schlink speaks straight to the heart' \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOlga is an orphan raised by her grandmother in a Prussian village around the turn of the 20th century. Smart and precocious, she fights against the prejudices of the time to find her place in a world that sees her as second-best.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen she falls in love with Herbert, a local aristocrat obsessed with the era's dreams of power, glory and greatness, her life is irremediably changed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheirs is a love against all odds, entwined with the twisting paths of German history, leading us from the late 19th to the early 21st century, from Germany to Africa and the Arctic, from the Baltic Sea to the German south-west.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the story of that love, of Olga's devotion to a restless man - told in thought, letters and in a fateful moment of great rebellion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTranslated from the German by Charlotte Collins\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56301527531893,"sku":"9781474611152","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781474611152_4d457f78-0c50-4fe8-98a8-6ade1c7cf05e.jpg?v=1786020767"},{"product_id":"9780753823286","title":"Homecoming","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Reader\u003c\/i\u003e, a\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e mesmerising tale of discovery, identity and forgiveness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen thirteen-year-old Peter discovers an old manuscript in his family home it instantly captivates him. The manuscript tells the compelling story of a German soldier's homecoming after escaping from a POW camp, but the document is incomplete.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYears later, the adult Peter rediscovers the text and goes in search of the missing pages - but far from unearthing an ending, he finds himself at the beginning of a quest that leads him across Europe to New York City, to the mystery of his father's disappearance, a love story, and the question of his own identity...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A \u003cb\u003efine \u003c\/b\u003enovel' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A \u003cb\u003ebrave \u003c\/b\u003eattempt at confronting Germany's stained past and uncertain identity' \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An \u003cb\u003eaccomplished \u003c\/b\u003eand intelligent writer' \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A novel of great density and \u003cb\u003epower\u003c\/b\u003e' \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An \u003cb\u003einvigorating \u003c\/b\u003eread' \u003ci\u003eMetro\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA novel beloved by thousands of readers\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Too good to finish'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Highly recommended'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A must read'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Brilliant'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Complex and profound'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311913021813,"sku":"9780753823286","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780753823286_9c40a1fa-61f9-4e85-ac13-20fc78ba8df5.jpg?v=1786015732"},{"product_id":"late-life","title":"The Late Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Treading carefully on thin ice, that was the only way . . . '\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt seventy-six, Martin is devoted to his family life with his young wife and six-year-old son when he suddenly learns that he has only a few months to live. Shocked, he searches for answers, wrestling with his feelings and existential questions about his legacy, the meaning of his love and what can be achieved in the short time he has left. Martin wants to do everything right, but later life is full of surprises and unforeseen challenges that he must face.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Late Life\u003c\/i\u003e is a story of navigating family, guilt, love and loss from Bernhard Schlink, one of the most masterful novelists of our age. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTranslated from the German by Charlotte Collins\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57503590711669,"sku":"9781399627542","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399627542.jpg?v=1786867298"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-prof-bernhard-schlink.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}