SIEGFRIED

The renowned author, Rudolf Herter, is in Vienna, having been invited to read from his masterwork The Invention of Love. During one TV interview he is confronted by a question that will come to haunt him -- can a work of imagination help to understand the nature of evil? Can a modern-day novelist write of the horrors of war and, in particular, Adolf Hitler? Later in his visit, Herter is approached by an old couple, the Falks, who, inspired by his performance, have a painful true account of their own they wish to pass on to him. They force him to promise that he will never tell a soul until after they have died. Only then can the truth be revealed. They were servants, working at the Furhrer's retreat, Berchesgaden, where they looked after Hitler's lover, Eva Braun, who was a permanent guest at the house. In time, they would all come to share a closely guarded secret. And ultimately their lives would become further intertwine through an act of brutality that would scar them forever. The Falk's confession forces Herter to respond to the question he has been unable to answer and his personal quest for that truth is shocking, profound and deeply moving. Mulisch's excavation of the human heart and the burden of the past is a tour de force and confirms him as one of Europe's most exciting and thought-provoking writers