Synopsis
For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems. Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret. 'A tender, horrifying novel that shows blazingly well how the Holocaust should be dealt with in fiction. A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of a German conscience' INDEPENDENT SATURDAY MAGAZINE

About the Author
Bernhard Schlink was born in Germany in 1944. A professor of law at the University of Berlin and a practising judge, he is the author of the major international best-selling novel The Reader as well as several prize-winning crime novels. He lives in Bonn and Berlin.

This has now been released as a film, so I'm glad I managed to read the book before going to see it at the cinema! This was a good book, and very emotional. Fifteen year old Michael meets Hanna, a woman in her thirties and they start seeing each other. This isn't just a physical relationship, Michael quickly becomes quite obsessed with Hanna. I'm not sure why a woman in her thirties would be interested in a young boy of fifteen. I know I wouldn't be! Hanna likes Michael to read to her, hence the title of the book. A few years later, after she has moved away from the area, Michael is in court when he recognises the woman in the dock, charged with war crimes. It's Hanna. He follows the court case to the end and some things come to light. There's quite a sad ending. I'll be very interested to see the film, and to see if it's true to the book. This is well worth a read and I'll reserve it to take along to the next BC meet.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This is a RABCK for ekranda. it's a 1001 book and a pretty good one, in my opinion. Hope you enjoy it Emily.

Thank you very much Becky - really looking forward to reading this one - nearly started it last night until i stopped myself cos i've had one or two bookray books in my possession for over a month!!

I picked this book up as I thought it might be a good read after reading some sci-fi enabling me to break it all up somewhat and escape back to reality!! This was a RABCK from Becky, thanks for the book and sorry it's taken me so long to get round to reading!!

The story line drew me in quite quickly but there was something about the writing style that didn't allow me to love this book, perhaps it wasn't 'smooth' enough....maybe this accounts for the book having been translated into English I am not sure.

I found the relationship quite interesting to read, and enjoyed the insights provided by the narrator who was an adult looking back at memories. I felt that there were some unnecessary comments about poor memory throughout the re-telling of the story, yet so many vivid details were included into the story and perhaps only one or two comments about poor memory were necessary. The book enabled the narrator to demonstrate the importance of perspective...i.e. looking back the narrator had more understanding of the actions taken by his lover despite his confusion as a teenager at the time.

I didn’t feel moved or particularly emotional when reading about the court scene, I had worked out one of the main twists at this point, however and found myself frustrated by the actions of Hanna and when the twist was revealed in the book I couldn’t help thinking, yeah I know already!! I’m not sure i really connected with Hanna’s character very well which in turn had an impact upon my enjoyment of the book itself. The narrator defended his memories of Hanna during his teenage years but this didn’t allow me to get emotionally attached to her during my read.

Hope you enjoy!!!!

This arrived today, thank you so much for sharing. I have a few to read before it but will get to it as soon as I can. Thanks again

I'm not sure what I thought about this book. Hanna and Michaels relationship made me feel uncomfortable at the start and I could never really understand the tie he had to her. I also found myself not caring about any of the characters. It could be because it was a translation.

As I had seen the film I knew the story already which probably didn't help.

That said I didn't not enjoy the book and got through it very quickly.

Thank you for sharing, somebody at work was hoping to borrow it and then I will send it off to someone else to enjoy