The Reader by Carol Brown Janeway and Bernhard Schlink

Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany.When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover--then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.

Un magnifique roman qui se déroule en Allemagne, avec la rencontre entre un jeune homme et une femme qui a connu la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.

Michaël is 15 when he meets Hannah who's more than twice is age. For 6 months they are lovers, their relationship based on the books they share and their ignorance of each other's life. Their secret meetings stop abruptly when Hannah disappears. Years later their paths cross again: Michaël, now a law student, attends a trial in which Hannah is one of five accused. Observing Hannah's tentative to defend herself, Michaël thinks he has discovered the secret she has hidden all her life. To better understand the love he's never gotten over, Michaël decides to write their story.

This book tells the story of a man marked for life by his first love. But also shows the destiny of the children of those who participated into the Holocaust, the children of all those who obeyed or closed their eyes to the horrors of the camps. Michaël's story talks about emotions with the distance given by time, which adds to the feeling of detachment Hannah's secret obliges her to have. I loved that book.

Note: My review is about the French version of the book

¿¿¿¿Realmente vamos a ignorar la relación de los protagonistas?????

Si realmente fuera crítico de la relación no lo hubiera escrito tan detalladamente. iugh.