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O Despertar Do Mundo (2014)

by Rhidian Brook(Favorite Author)

3.67 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

ASA

review 1: Such an interesting read. I knew little about the aftermath of WW2 in Germany and the rebuilding effort. Set in a decimated Hamburg in 1946, Colonel Lewis Morgan (a wonderful character) leads the British effort to rebuild the city and find Nazis and their sympathisers. Despite the resentment other Allied soldiers have for the Germans, he shows compassion and integrity in his work and even allows a widower and his daughter to remain in the home which is requisitioned for him and his family. Rhidian Brook shows us many viewpoints on both sides - Colonel Morgan, his grieving wife, his young son, Herr Lubert and his angry daughter, orphaned and displaced children, pompous army officers. A very atmospheric novel depicting Germany's pain in an uncertain time and old foes trying ... moreto establish new relationships. Superbly written and highly recommend.
review 2: While visiting Hamburg in 2000, I was struck by the number of bombed out relics still present in the otherwise thriving commercial city. Conversely, the spectacular homes along the Elbe basin, some Victorian, some as recent as the 1920s, appeared serene and beautifully maintained. The Hamburg of my mind's eye, while far more prosperous than the city of this story, is distinctly similar to the emotional and cultural tone of this book. This novel looks at that same city in the aftermath of war's devastation, examining both the economic and the emotional turmoil. The year is 1946. British Col. Lewis Morgan has been given the job of occupying and rebuilding Hamburg. He is repeatedly told that when the occupation zones were divvied up among the Allies, "the French got the wine, the Yanks got the view and the British got the ruins." Morgan, his wife, and remaining son (another son had been killed in the bombing in Britain) are assigned a glorious Victorian "castle," that is the family home of Professor Stefan Lubert and his embittered fifteen-year-old daughter Freda. Morgan suggests the two families share the huge house rather than sending the Luberts into exile and the cautious reconnection between such recent enemies begins. Although the end of the novel crescendos to a melodramatic conclusion, the small moments between members of the two families, the burgeoning friendship between eleven-year-old Edmund and a group of street orphans, and the observations about war and healing are definitely worth your time. less

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