Olga

"Two world wars and the passage of more than a century do not overshadow [Bernhard Schlink's] story of lovers who never fully belong to each other, just as they never fully belonged to the world." — Booklist
“Readers who love rich character studies will want to pick this up." — Publishers Weekly
"Olga is captivating. Bernhard Schlink tells the story in lucid, serene language... He is a master" — Stern
"One of Bernhard Schlink's secrets stems from his ability to craft stories from the generational schisms that occupied a single lifetime. Olga is another stellar example of it." — Le Monde
"A cleverly-constructed tale of cross-class romance... Olga's story draws us into a present-day reckoning with Germany's past."
— Mail on Sunday
“A poignant portrait of a woman out of step with her time.” — The Guardian
"From the author of The Reader comes a brilliant new novel about history and the nature of memory." — Evening Standard (London)
"Schlink frames the novel as a search for meaning, which dances in Olga between a multitude of timeframes and territories. Throughout, Charlotte Collins's translation is careful and beautifully paced." — Financial Times
"A compelling tale of love and thwarted dreams... Schlink's lucid, no-frills prose lends his novel immediacy, and at times potency, and gives us a character to root for."
— The Herald (UK)
"Schlink tells a gripping, true-to-life story which startles you with its unforeseen twists, and not only makes you think, but feel too."
— NDR Kultur
"Olga is a searching examination of modern Germany and its scarred soul... there's a sophisticated precision to [Schlink's] writing, which is superbly translated by Charlotte Collins." — Sunday Telegraph
“Misdirection can be as useful a trick in storytelling as it is in magic. It may be tempting to follow the trail of a character who plunges into the thick of the action, but sometimes it’s better to stick with the one who has been left behind. That’s certainly the case in Bernhard Schlink’s Olga.” — New York Times Book Review