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The Resource The blind side of the heart, Julia Franck ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell

The blind side of the heart, Julia Franck ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell

Creator
Contributor
Summary
"Amid the chaos of civilians fleeing West in a provincial German railway station in 1945 Helene has brought her seven-year-old son. Having survived with him through the horrors and deprivations of the war years, she abandons him on the station platform and never returns." "Many years earlier, Helene and her sister Martha's childhood in rural Germany is abruptly ended by the outbreak of the First World War. Her father, sent to the eastern front, comes home only to die. Their Jewish mother withdraws from the hostility of her surroundings into a state of mental confusion. Helene calls the condition blindness of the heart, and fears the growing coldness of her mother, who hardly seems to notice her daughters any more. In the early 1920s, after their father's death, she and Martha move to Berlin. Helene falls in love with Carl, but when he dies just before their engagement, life becomes meaningless for her and she takes refuge in her work as a nurse. At a party she meets Wilhelm, an ambitious civil engineer who wants to build motorways for the Reich and to make Helene his wife. Their marriage, which soon proves disastrous, takes Helene to Stettin, where her son is born. She finds the love and closeness demanded by the little boy more than she can provide, and soon she cannot shake off the idea of simply disappearing." "Finally she comes to a shocking decision. The Blind Side of the Heart tells of two World Wars, of hope, loneliness and love, and of a life lived in terrible times. It is a great family novel, a powerful portrayal of an era, and the story of a fascinating woman."--Jacket
Language
  • eng
  • ger
  • eng
Work
Instance
Label
The blind side of the heart
Title
The blind side of the heart
Statement of responsibility
Julia Franck ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell
Creator
Contributor
Subject
Genre
Language
  • eng
  • ger
  • eng
Summary
"Amid the chaos of civilians fleeing West in a provincial German railway station in 1945 Helene has brought her seven-year-old son. Having survived with him through the horrors and deprivations of the war years, she abandons him on the station platform and never returns." "Many years earlier, Helene and her sister Martha's childhood in rural Germany is abruptly ended by the outbreak of the First World War. Her father, sent to the eastern front, comes home only to die. Their Jewish mother withdraws from the hostility of her surroundings into a state of mental confusion. Helene calls the condition blindness of the heart, and fears the growing coldness of her mother, who hardly seems to notice her daughters any more. In the early 1920s, after their father's death, she and Martha move to Berlin. Helene falls in love with Carl, but when he dies just before their engagement, life becomes meaningless for her and she takes refuge in her work as a nurse. At a party she meets Wilhelm, an ambitious civil engineer who wants to build motorways for the Reich and to make Helene his wife. Their marriage, which soon proves disastrous, takes Helene to Stettin, where her son is born. She finds the love and closeness demanded by the little boy more than she can provide, and soon she cannot shake off the idea of simply disappearing." "Finally she comes to a shocking decision. The Blind Side of the Heart tells of two World Wars, of hope, loneliness and love, and of a life lived in terrible times. It is a great family novel, a powerful portrayal of an era, and the story of a fascinating woman."--Jacket
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Franck, Julia
Dewey number
833/.92
Index
no index present
Language note
Translated from the German
LC call number
PT2666.R264
LC item number
M5813 2009
Literary form
fiction
Nature of contents
dictionaries
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
Bell, Anthea
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Sisters
  • Mothers and daughters
  • World War (1914-1918)
  • World War (1939-1945)
  • Absentee mothers
  • Psychological aspects
  • Single mothers
  • Social conditions
  • Germany
Label
The blind side of the heart, Julia Franck ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Extent
1 online resource (424 pages)
Form of item
online
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)567562441
Label
The blind side of the heart, Julia Franck ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell
Link
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Extent
1 online resource (424 pages)
Form of item
online
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
n
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(OCoLC)567562441

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