Siegfried by Harry Mulisch

translated from the Dutch by Paul Vincent

• Bibliotheque Municipale de Lille, France
• The Association of Public Libraries, The Hague, The Netherlands
• Gemeentebibliotheek Utrecht,
  The Netherlands
• Gemeentebibliotheek Rotterdam,
  The Netherlands
• Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Openbare Bibliotheek Eindhoven,
  The Netherlands
  

The renowned author, Rudolf Herter, is in Vienna, having been invited there to read from his new masterwork, The Invention of Love. During one television interview he is confronted by questions 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, of Adolf Hitler.
Later in his visit, Herter is approached by an elderly couple, the Falks, who, inspired by his performance, wish to pass on to him a painful true account of their own. They force him to promise that he will not tell a soul until after their deaths, only then can the truth be revealed.
As servants at Hitler's Bavarian retreat, Berghof, the Falks looked after Hitler's lover, Eva Braun, a permanent guest. In time, they would all share a closely guarded secret. And, ultimately, their lives would become even further intertwined - through an act of brutality that would scar them forever.
Siegfried is a shocking and deeply moving evocation of the human heart and the burden of the past.

Harry Mulisch was born in Holland. His novels include The Discovery of Heaven, and The Procedure, and he has also written short stories, essays, plays and philosophical works. His bestselling novel, The Assault, was translated into twenty languages and made into a film that won an Oscar in 1987 for Best Foreign Film. He lives in Amsterdam.