Rent Children and Fire

Synopsis

Now in paperback, the fourth novel in Ursula Hegi's acclaimed Burgdorf cycle, "a thoughtful, sidelong approach to the worst moment in Germany's history that invites us to understand how decent people come to collaborate with evil" (Kirkus Reviews).  

Set in Burgdorf, Germany, the fictitious village in which her bestselling novels Stones from the River and The Vision of Emma Blau took place, Children and Fire tells the story of one day that will forever transform the lives of the townspeople.

     At the core of this remarkable novel is the question of how Thekla Jansen can become seduced by propaganda during the early months of Hitler's regime and encourage her ten-year-old students to join the "Hitler-Jugend." She believes membership will be a step toward better schools, better apprenticeships. Willing to relinquish some of her freedoms to keep her teaching position, Thekla has always taken her moral courage for granted. But when each silent agreement chips away at that courage, she knows she must reclaim it.

     Hegi writes along that edge where sorrow and bliss meet, showing us how one society can slip into a reality that's fabricated by propaganda and controlled by fear, how a surge of national unity can be manipulated into the dehumanization of a perceived enemy and the justification of torture and murder. "Lyrically written" (Library Journal) and emotionally powerful, Children and Fire confirms Hegi as one of the most distinguished writers of her generation.

View descriptions at Amazon.com