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The Valley of Unknowing

Name: The Valley of Unknowing
Rating: 3.85 (373 reviews)
Author: Philip Sington

Philip Sington April 1, 2012

3.85 373 Ratings

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Synopsis

“Remarkable…Superbly anchored in place and time…[A] brilliant, evocative and accurate novel.” —The Times (London)

In the twilight years of Communist East Germany, Bruno Krug, author of a single world-famous novel written twenty years earlier, falls for Theresa Aden, a music student from the West. But Theresa has also caught the eye of a cocky young scriptwriter who delights in satirizing Krug’s work.

Asked to appraise a mysterious manuscript, Bruno is disturbed to find that the author is none other than his rival. Disconcertingly, the book is good—very good. But there is hope for the older man: the unwelcome masterpiece is dangerously political. Krug decides that if his affair with Theresa is to prove more than a fling, he must employ a small deception. But in the Workers’ and Peasants’ State, knowing the deceiver from the deceived, the betrayer from the betrayed, isn’t just difficult: it can be a matter of life and death.

This subtle, brilliantly plotted story will remind many readers of von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others.

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The Valley of Unknowing

Books similar to The Valley of Unknowing

The Traitor’s Emblem

The Hangman’s Daughter

The Given Day

Shadow Country

The Alienist

Child 44

Be Careful What You Wish For

Wish You Well

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