Disordered Shelves : City of Women by David Gillham (2012)
David Gillham's absorbing historical suspense tale pitches the reader right into the heart of Berlin, 1943, and the moral dilemmas confronting Sigrid Schroder, whose husband is away on the Eastern front. How far should she involve herself in the life of Ericha, a young upstairs neighbour, who she rescues from an uncomfortable encounter with the Gestapo in a cinema? Driven by restlessness, a desire to escape from her confined apartment life with her mother-in-law, and dreaming of Egon, her Jewish lover, who vanished months ago, Sigrid starts to make some tough choices.
This is a very impressive, gripping read. Gillham is terrific on the details - the smells, sights and sounds of life in wartime - and I was particularly taken with how well he handles 'two-hander' scenes - Sigrid and Ericha, Sigrid and her mother-in-law, Sigrid and Egon. There are a couple of well-staged 'pull-the-rug-from-under-the-readers'-feet' moments - a chess match in chapter sixteen is beautifully done. The novel also (as the title indicates) passes the Bechdel Test with ease. If Stanley Tucci ever gets his mooted TV adaptation off the ground, I'll be watching it.