First published 2024
G. W. Pabst stands among cinema's giants, perhaps the greatest director of his era. When the Nazis seize power, he flees to France, then escapes to Hollywood's glittering promise. But under California's blazing sun, the world-famous filmmaker suddenly appears diminished. Even Greta Garbo, whom he made immortal on screen, cannot rescue his career. Almost without conscious choice, Pabst finds himself back in his Austrian homeland, now renamed the Ostmark under Nazi rule. His returned family feels the regime's brutal nature immediately. Yet Berlin's propaganda minister covets the film genius. He accepts no refusal and offers generous rewards. While Pabst believes he can resist these advances and bow only to art's demands, he has already taken his first step toward inescapable entanglement. Kehlmann crafts a story about art confronting power, beauty meeting barbarism. The novel demonstrates literature's capacity to reveal truth through invention.
Genres: drama, art, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, power-struggle
Setting: Austria, California, France, Hollywood, Ostmark
Period: 20th-century
480 pages · Hardcover · Büchergilde Gutenberg