A debut novel about a life-changing romance in the long shadow of European history, inspired by the author's real discovery

'You wouldn't be able to put it down' Samantha Rose Hill, author of Hannah Arendt

Harvard, 1996. Anna is about to graduate when she falls in love with Christoph, a German student visiting campus. As she visits Christoph in Germany and tries to understand the young, elegant man who fascinates her, he reveals his country to her.

Germany is still reckoning with the Holocaust and its pretty new squares belie the war’s destruction. Anna wants to believe in Christoph and the future he promises her but as their relationship becomes increasingly unsettling, she must face up to everything she has been unwilling to see, and everything Christoph has chosen to ignore.

'A swiftly-moving, molecularly perceptive, singular portrait of intoxicating young love' Aube Rey Lescure, author of River East, River West

'An elegant, unsettling novel about the burden of history and the illusions of love' Sana Krasikov, author of The Patriots

'An exquisitely observed love affair... Stunningly good' Julia Boyd, author of A Village in the Third Reich