Stella
From the internationally bestselling author of The Club comes a gripping historical novel of love and betrayal, set in wartime Berlin
In 1942, Friedrich, an even-keeled but unworldly young man, arrives in Berlin from bucolic Switzerland with dreams of becoming an artist. At a life drawing class, he is hypnotized by the beautiful model, Kristin, who soon becomes his energetic yet enigmatic guide to the bustling and cosmopolitan city. Kristin teaches the naïve Friedrich how to take care of himself in a city filled with danger, and brings him to an underground jazz club where they drink cognac, dance, and kiss. The war feels far away to Friedrich as he falls in love with Kristin, the pair cocooned inside their palatial rooms at the Grand Hotel, where even Champagne and fresh fruit can be obtained thanks to the black market. But as the months pass, the mood in the city darkens yet further, with the Nazi Party tightening their hold on everyday life of all Berliners, terrorizing anyone who might be disloyal to the Reich. Kristin's loyalties are unclear, and she is not everything she seems, as his realizes when one frightening day she comes back to Friedrich's hotel suite in tears, battered and bruised. She tells him an astonishing secret: that her real name is Stella, and that she is Jewish, passing for Aryan. Fritz comforts her, but he soon realizes that Stella's control of the situation is rapidly slipping out of her grasp, and that the Gestapo have an impossible power over her.
As Friedrich confronts Stella's unimaginable choices, he finds himself woefully unprepared for the history he is living through. Based in part on a real historical character, Stella sets a tortured love story against the backdrop of wartime Berlin, and powerfully explores questions of naiveté, young love, betrayal, and the horrors of history.
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Community Reviews
Stella by Takis Wurger
196 pages
What’s it about?
This coming of age novel takes place in 1942. Friedrich decides to embark on a trip from his home in Switzerland to the city of Berlin. Friedrich wants to pursue drawing but is also curious about Berlin and the rumors that have been flying around since the war began. Once there he encounters Stella and falls deeply in love. However love and Germany are not exactly what he has envisioned.
What did it make me think about?
How hard it is to read books about Germany and World War 2. Where does the need to remember blur into entertainment? This novel is based on a real life woman who lived in Berlin and betrayed her fellow Jews. Can any author do justice to the angst and horror of that wartime decision?
Should I read it?
I liked Takis Wurger’s writing style. However his characters never really came to life for me. I still found the book interesting and will look for more books written by Takis Wurger.
Quote-“I wondered how to shake off the feeling of loneliness that had come over me ever since I’d stepped off the night train. The flags, the high buildings, the people wearing stars, the noise, the smell- everything was strange to me. From a distance the Germans seemed big; close up they were as small as I was. Only the backdrop was big- above all the flags. The German flags were very big. I resolved to resume my travels soon.”
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