2015. Stella, a professor of history, comes to the beautiful city of Bonn, Germany, for a World Heritage conference. With things at home tearing at the seams, she is determined to pretend all is well. At least, until she is assaulted over a trivial matter by another delegate, Professor Giovanni Costa. Bewildered, Stella descends into a shadowy observer, slowly becoming an obsessed stalker. When she meets the elderly Hildegard, she is drawn into her wartime story, little seeing the similarities to her own situation.
The Devil Comes to Bonn
1941. Hildegard interviews for a part-time job, but gets thrust into the role of maid to Hitler in the infamous room 106 in a hotel he visited more than 70 times. She can no longer use her studies to hide from reality. Moving forward is the only option, no matter how dark it gets.
With the story switching between 2015 and 1941, Stella and Hildegard face questions of survival, identity, love and meaning as they juggle moral ambiguities, feminism and justice that is sorely needed.
What events conspire to lead us down dark paths? Aggressive academic conference encounters provoked Jennifer Harris to write this, her debut novel. The theme of the contemporary bullied woman is refracted through World War II incidents, giving the reader another way to look at #MeToo. Remaining resolutely realist, The Devil Comes to Bonn propels the protagonist, new professor, Stella, on a journey through places and historic events that inspire, unsettle and overwhelm her in the ancient city of Bonn.
An academic in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies, Jennifer Harris draws on her expertise in writing fiction. "Places and multiple pasts erupt as plot points as the enraged and obsessed Stella risks everything to stalk an aggressive man. Mass tourism tends to flatten histories and places, likewise many novels use setting as decorative travelogues, but this story shows the power of multiple pasts and places as dynamic forces in the present." She says of further themes of her novel, "Events associated with wars and gender friction tend to be regarded as good-bad binaries; by contrast, this book examines moral ambiguity”.
Author Bio
Jennifer Harris is an academic in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies and draws on her expertise in writing fiction. She has also written for print and television news. She is from Western Australia and lives in Seattle where she reads, writes and hikes the Pacific Northwest.
Publication Date: 28/07/2023 ISBN: 9781803137629 Price: £9.99
Our Point Of View
This is an interesting read - packed with controversial points that vibrate back to the 1930's and are still pertinant today. It is a must read for any one with an opinion on womens equality. It is a must read that will get you talking and it may divide opinions.
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