by Ursula Hegi
Part of Burgdorf Cycle, book 4
Thekla Jansen stands before her students in the German village of Burgdorf on February 27, 1934. The gifted teacher loves her pupils and wants to shield them from the turmoil spreading beyond their small community. Outside, the Nazis mark the first anniversary of the Reichstag fire that brought them to power. Thekla tells herself their regime cannot last. She makes small concessions to keep her classroom, trading away pieces of her freedom one by one. Each compromise weakens the moral courage she once took for granted. As propaganda reshapes the world around her and fear takes hold of her neighbors, Thekla watches her educated, compassionate society transform. She must decide whether to reclaim her courage or surrender completely. Hegi captures how decent people become complicit with evil through a series of seemingly reasonable choices.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Burgdorf, Germany
Period: 1934
Unknown Binding · Scribner
Content warnings: racism