First published 1988
Lars Andemening works as a book reviewer in Stockholm, but his real obsession lies elsewhere. He believes himself to be the son of Bruno Schulz, the Polish writer killed by the Nazis in 1942. Lars tells anyone who will listen that his father died before completing his greatest work, a novel called The Messiah. When a mysterious woman appears with a manuscript she claims is the lost masterpiece, Lars finds himself drawn into a web of deception that involves several members of Stockholm's Jewish community. They spin elaborate stories around his paternal claims, feeding his fantasies while pursuing their own hidden agendas. As Lars becomes more entangled in their schemes, the line between truth and fiction blurs. The manuscript may or may not be authentic, and Lars may or may not be who he believes himself to be. At its heart, this is a story about the desperate human need to belong somewhere, to claim a heritage that gives meaning to an otherwise ordinary existence.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Stockholm, Poland
Period: 1942
144 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group