Bernhard Schlink tells the story in lucid, serene language.' - Stern 'One of Bernhard Schlink's secrets stems from his art of telling stories by interweaving the standpoints of different generations in the very same life story. 'Two world wars and the passage of more than a century do not overshadow story of lovers who never fully belong to each other, just as they never fully belonged to the world.' - Booklist 'Readers who love rich character studies will want to pick this up.' - Publishers Weekly 'Olga is captivating.

Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins Told in three distinct parts, brilliantly shifting from different points of view and narrative formats, Bernhard Schlink's magnificent novel is a rich, full portrait of a singular woman and her world. Though Olga exists in the shadows of others, she pursues life to the fullest and her magnetic presence shines-revealing a woman complex, fascinating, and unforgettable.

Her love for Herbert goes against all odds and encounters many obstacles, but even when they are separated, it endures Unfolding across decades-from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century-and across continents-from Germany to Africa and the Arctic, from the Baltic Sea to the German south-west-Olga is an epic romance, and a wrenching tale of a woman's devotion to a restless man in an age of constant change. While Herbert indulges his thirst for exploration and adventure, Olga is limited by her gender and circumstance.

When Olga falls in love with her neighbor, Herbert, the son of a local aristocrat, her life is irremediably changed. Smart and precocious, endearing but uncompromising, she fights against ingrained chauvinism to find her place in a world run by lesser men. Abandoned by her parents, young Olga is raised by her grandmother in a Prussian village in the early years of the twentieth century. 'Two world wars and the passage of more than a century do not overshadow story of lovers who never fully belong to each other, just as they never fully belonged to the world.'- Booklist 'A brilliant novel about history and the nature of memory.'- Evening Standard A sweeping novel of love and passion from author of the international bestseller The Reader about a woman out of step with her time, whose life is witness to some of the most tumultuous events of modern age.

Olga bernhard schlink