Read this when
The Reader
He learned the woman he first loved was on trial for war crimes, and that she'd rather go to prison than admit she couldn't read. Shame is a hell of a drug.
Who it's for
Michael's life is shaped by two things he can't reconcile: his first love and the discovery that she took part in atrocity, which gives readers who love someone who did serious harm (a parent, a partner, a mentor) a rare story that refuses easy resolution.
Feelings it meets
What it is
The Reader (Der Vorleser) is a novel by Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and translated into English by Carol Brown Janeway. Narrated by an adult Michael Berg in three parts, it begins in 1958 when 15-year-old Michael falls ill and is helped by Hanna Schmitz, a 36-year-old tram conductor, with whom he begins an affair during which he reads literature aloud to her, until she disappears.
Where to find it
In print; widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Not public domain.
Before you start
Heads up: Suicide and sexual abuse of a teen.
Age: Ages 16+
She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness;Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
