Norbert Gstrein The English Years

Annotation

A literary masterpiece, a reclusive author and a war-time mystery. Gabriel Hirschfelder is a literary icon, his book an acknowledged masterpiece. He is living out his days in Southend-on-Sea. But fame has come at a price. He fled Vienna shortly before the outbreak of war, and in 1940 he was classified an "undesirable alien" and sent to a camp with other internees on the Isle of Man. The friends he made there changed his life for ever. Who were Lomnitz and Ossovsky? And who was the fourth man, Harrasser? Was he really deported to Canada or was he murdered? What happened on the Isle of Man to haunt Hirschfelder to his dying day? After his death, a young woman happens to meet his third and last wife and her curiosity is aroused. Her own ex-husband was obsessed with Hirschfelder, so she already knows a little bit about him. But now she feels impelled to make contact with the other women in his life. Her search brings to light many surprises as she uncovers a story with far-reaching implications for Hirschfelder's posthumous reputation. The English Years is a brilliant novel which combines the literary invention of Paul Auster with the European cultural sensibility of W.G. Sebald.