The Reader

Summary

«The Reader» is a novel by German author Bernhard Schlink, telling the story of love and secrets between fifteen-year-old Michael Berg and thirty-six-year-old Hanna Schmitz in post-war Germany. Their relationship begins as a summer romance, but later Michael discovers that Hanna was a guard at a Nazi concentration camp during the war. The novel explores themes of guilt, shame, redemption, and the impact of the past on individual lives and relationships. The story is divided into three parts, with subsequent encounters between the characters filled with deep emotional experiences and moral dilemmas.