The Blind Side Of The Heart (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a German prize winning novel set between the two World Wars. As someone who spent much of her childhood in Germany after the war (the result of an English father and German mother), I found it refreshing to read how awful these times were for German citizens too. As dreadful as living conditions, foot shortages etc were for them, could I find sympathy for Helene who abandoned her son at a railway station at the age of 7? I still don't know but the book was thought provoking, beautifully written/translated and recommended. A tough read. Helene abandons her son on the station platform in chapter one. The rest of the book leads up to this point, starting from her own childhood. The blind side of the heart could apply to more than one person:- Helene's abandonement of her son, her own mother's emotional abandonment of Helene, the actions of some other characters or the State's abandonment and treatment of anyone not fitting the required Aryan profile.Through Helene's daily life is seen the changing attitudes towards anyone without official papers proving Aryan blood: either through belief in the new ideology or fear.
What do You think about The Blind Side Of The Heart (2007)?
Jeannette highly recommends this book. She read it in French (appears not to be in English yet)
—kiran
Heel mooi. Hoe een vrouw wordt zoals ze wordt tijdens de tweede Wereldoorlog.
—pierre
Too bleak for me to complete at this time. Maybe later.
—sarah
