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In 1942, Friedrich, an even-keeled but unworldly young man, arrives in Berlin from bucolic Switzerland with dreams of becoming an artist. At a life drawing class, he is hypnotized by the beautiful model, Kristin, who soon becomes his energetic yet enigmatic guide to the bustling and cosmopolitan city, escorting him to underground jazz clubs where they drink cognac, dance, and kiss. The war feels far away to Friedrich, who falls in love with Kristin as they spend time together in his rooms at the Grand Hotel, but as the months pass, the mood in the city darkens as the Nazis tighten their hold on Berlin, terrorizing any who are deemed foes of the Reich.
One day, Kristin comes back to Friedrich's rooms in tears, battered and bruised. She tells him that her real name is Stella, and that she is Jewish, passing for Aryan. More disturbing still, she has troubling connections with the Gestapo that Friedrich does not fully understand. As Friedrich confronts Stella's unimaginable choices, he finds himself woefully unprepared for the history he is living through. Based in part on a real historical character, Stella sets a tortured love story against the backdrop of wartime Berlin, and powerfully explores questions of naiveté, young love, betrayal, and the horrors of history.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 9, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593402603
- File size: 142944 KB
- Duration: 04:57:47
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Just who is the worldly, sensuous, and enigmatic woman called Stella, aka Kristen, at the heart of this novel? Narrators Will Damon and Shayna Small answer that question as they deliver this disturbing yet engrossing work. With clarity and conviction, Damon delivers the story of Swiss art student Fritz, who is obsessed with Stella, an art class model in Berlin in 1942. Then he discovers she sings at various jazz clubs he frequents. Later, Fritz and the listener learn that Stella is not just a model, a chanteuse, an exciting lover--she's also a Jewish "Jew catcher." In a flat and prosecutorial voice, narrator Shayna Small reads transcripts from Stella's 1946 trial that list the Jewish families she turned over to the Gestapo. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
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