In Nazi Germany, young Manfred is hardly aware of the influence that draws him into the existing political system. After the War he changes his name and builds up a new career, starting a family, first in the States, later in Britain. While his friends and family have no idea of his activities during the War, his daughter Nora and his grandson Andrew, being interested in recent history, begin to suspect their (grand-) father’s dark secret.
How far does moral responsibility go? Can really heavy guilt ever be expiated in Dostoyevsky’s sense or is there no hope for atonement by later generations? Is it ever too late to learn fundamental lessons from political developments?
A chance encounter, a road accident, an air crash, a hold-up at a bank:
How do such events connect people?
How do people see the situations from their different perspectives?
Three narrative strands follow the lives of three individuals – Peter, Cathy and Ivan – through the second half of the 20th century, from post-war austerity and mediocrity in the 1950s and 1960s to the fast-moving life-style of the present decade, whereby the plot is embedded in real events of the period. The three biographies intersect at crucial points, which reveals their internal landscapes and the different ways of understanding reality. Things are not always what they seem, and we do not always know the whole truth.
Playing with various time-levels, this novel of the mind deals primarily with potential fallacies of perception, sexual awakening, emotional exploitation and the proximity of death.
How do we store the memorable events in our lives?
And how do we cope with these memories as we grow older?
