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The Glass Pearls (Faber Editions)
The Glass Pearls (Faber Editions): 'A wonderful noir thriller and tremendous rediscovery' - William Boyd | Emeric Pressburger
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For fans of The Passenger, this thrilling tale of an ex-Nazi surgeon hiding in plain sight in 1960s London by the celebrated filmmaker is a lost noir gem, introduced by Anthony Quinn and narrated on audio by Mark Gatiss. 'A wonderfully compelling noir thriller and audacious and challenging act of imagination.' William Boyd 'This extraordinary novel had me hooked from start to finish.' Sarah Waters Nothing is more inviting to disclose your secrets than to be told by others of their own ... London, June 1965. Karl Braun arrives as a lodger in Pimlico: hatless, with a bow-tie, greying hair, slight in build. His new neighbours are intrigued by this cultured German gentleman who works as a piano tuner; many are fellow émigrés, who assume that he, like them, came to England to flee Hitler. That summer, Braun courts a woman, attends classical concerts, dances the twist. But as the newspapers fill with reports of the hunt for Nazi war criminals, his nightmares become increasingly worse . 'A haunting, remarkable novel, as startlingly original as any of Pressburger's films.' Nicola Upson 'A dark and harrowing window on the past: the ending will haunt your dreams.' Janice Hallett
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I expected this story of a Nazi war criminal hiding in London in 1965 to be a fast-paced thriller. Instead the book is more of a slow psychological study. I kept expecting the protagonist to be overcome by guilt, but he was a case book of rationalization and self preservation. The author lost his mother and other relatives at Auschwitz. I am amazed that he could bring himself to write from this perspective.