Firstly, a very happy new year to you all! Staff here have all survived another year of the usual Christmas bedlam and needless to say we are all keen as mustard to return to the fray, and get back on the bookselling deck  for 2025. 

I read the other day that the quasi US President elect - Elon Musk - has infuriated many Germans by backing the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) for an upcoming election, describing them in an opinion piece as ‘the last spark of hope for this country’.  

Coincidentally, I’ve been reading Bernard Schlink’s timely and brilliant novel The Granddaughter. Kaspar is a bookseller in Berlin and after the death of his beloved wife, (who had escaped the East before reunification), he discovers she had relinquished a baby before they met. When he finds the daughter still living in the East, he is appalled to find that she, her husband and 14 year-old daughter, Sigrun, are far-right German nationalists and Holocaust deniers. Kaspar befriends his step-granddaughter and slowly, over several years, tries to counter Sigrun’s deeply entrenched beliefs (when they visit Ravensbruck she insists that the evidence of what happened there is ‘an invention after the fact’). What he did for the Holocaust and WWII in The Reader, Schlink now does for post-reunification, contemporary Germany in The Granddaughter. It’s complex, not pretty, but Schlink’s great humanity leaves us with hope. 

As an aside, I note that Kaspar and his wife must study and do an apprenticeship to become booksellers, something that still exists in Germany and should have been introduced for booksellers worldwide! The book ends with a small section about Australia (for reasons I won’t reveal) which Kaspar researches, impressed by the art of the Heidelberg school as well as the ‘lively, original contemporary novels’ of Australia. Just so!

Morgan 

Look out for  longer lists in the February/March Gleaner!

We have 5 double passes to giveaway to Emilia Perez -  a gripping, hot Oscar contender from acclaimed director Jacques Audiard. Starring Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez, and Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Perez isn’t just a story—it’s a profound journey of transformation. Email competitions@gleebooks.com.au with Emilia Perez  in the subject field, and we'll email 5 lucky winners with a double pass. 

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