The Blind Side of the Heart

Amid the chaos of civilians fleeing west in a provincial German railway station in 1945 Helene has brought her seven-year-old son. Having survived with him through the horrors and deprivations of the war years she abandons him on the station platform and never returns. This is a tale of hope loneliness and love and of a life lived in terrible times. It is a great family novel a powerful portrayal of an era and the story of a fascinating woman.Shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2010.