The Granddaughter – Bernhard Schlink

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Chosen by Rachel

A study of Germany’s reunification via a collection of people who all represent a different faction or ideology. Kaspar is a West German bookseller whose wife dies. He discovers and tracks down newly discovered family members and attempts to educate them away from their ingrained neo-Nazi beliefs.

I’m not proud of Germany. Why should I be proud of something that isn’t my doing? But I can’t imagine being anything other than German. Is that enough?

●  Historical fiction is a favourite genre of mine so I thoroughly enjoyed The Granddaughter.

One of the most compelling aspects for me was the East vs West German perspective and how contrasting their worldviews and daily life were. I felt I learned a lot about Germany and the deeply ingrained beliefs that many held. I was especially shocked to learn that some East Germans genuinely believed the Holocaust didn’t happen, and the conversations and relationships built around that ideology brought the book to life for me.

I found the first half of the novel especially engaging. The early sections, which establish Kaspar’s motivations and the post-reunification setting, introduce lots of plot points which piqued my interest. Kaspar’s attempt to educate his granddaughter was considerately done. He could have been a lot more forceful in trying to make her see sense of her neo-Nazi views but chose the more restrained path and I appreciated that this made for a more pleasant reading experience. As the novel progressed, I felt that the momentum slowed somewhat, and the latter half did not hold my interest as strongly.

Overall I thought The Granddaughter was an insightful and compelling read and I would recommend it. – Jodie

The guilt I felt from growing up in the shadow of death prevented me from rebelling; would it have prevented me from being ambitious, as well?

●  I am fascinated with books set in Germany when the Berlin Wall was in place. I remember when the Wall came down and find it staggering that we are still learning different aspects of what both East and West Berliners went through. The Granddaughter introduced another aspect I hadn’t fully realised before, and that is how difficult reunification was. East Germans had been sheltered from the world for so long they often felt looked down upon, and some could not comprehend, or outright denied, the reality of Hitler’s atrocities. Schlink captures this dynamic perfectly.

While Kaspar, the protagonist, is the moral compass for all the characters who were in denial, and did have all the right arguments, I did find his desire to save everyone a little suffocating. Perhaps this is how those stepping out of East Berlin felt about their well-meaning Western counterparts.

There are several sub plots that detail the journeys different people chose to take or were forced to take as they navigated trying times and survival under Communist rule, and all of these are fascinating. Every character felt like a real person and I was invested in their journeys. At first I wasn’t sure about the ending, but after talking it through with Jodie, I came to appreciate Schlink’s narrative style—where the big twists are revealed early on and then slowly unravelled over the rest of the book. – Rachel

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Published in Germany 2021
Translated into English by Charlotte Collins 2025
HarperVia
336 pages