The Gift From Berlin



by Lucette ter Borg
translated by Liedewy Hawke

ISBN 9781897151310 | 5.125" x 7.625" | TPB with French Flaps | $21
Categories:Fiction - Literary, Fiction - Historical, Translations

Purchase:Local Bookstores | mcnallyrobinson.com | archambault.ca | amazon.ca | chapters.indigo.ca

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Synopsis

Andreas Landewee is a reluctant witness to history, having survived both World War II and the Soviet occupation of Germany. When his wife Elisabeth dies, he decides to leave Europe and live in a cabin in the woods of British Columbia. Landewee sees this move as a chance to start a new life. But without realizing it, he begins to recreate his old one. He frantically awaits keepsakes from home, including Elisabeth’s most prized possession — a piano given to her by her hero and admirer, Adolf Hitler. Yet despite these inescapable ties to the past, Landewee attempts to make good in his new home. He slowly begins to explore the memories carried within the piano, and comes to realize that only by accepting the past can he move towards redemption.
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Reviews
"ter Borg brings us not a tidy novel of redemption, but something far more honest and powerful ... In The Gift From Berlin, Lucette ter Borg has created a fascinating portrait of an aging man looking back on a life scarred by war, shame and neglect."
- The Globe and Mail