Books Set in Europe: Germany, Bavaria

The Werewolf of Bamberg, by Oliver Pötzsch (2014)

This is the 5th novel in the Hangman's Daughter series.  The year is 1668, and the Kuisl family has traveled from Schongau to Bamberg to celebrate the marriage of Barthalomäus, the estranged brother of the Kuisl patriarch, Jakob.  Until recently, his children were unaware that their father even had a brother.  A misunderstanding years earlier had caused a split between the brothers.

When the family arrives in Bamberg, they learn that the city has been terrorized by a series of murders.  Several elders of the city have gone missing, only to have their mangled bodies appear scattered around the city.  Rumors spread that the deaths are caused by a werewolf.

What I like about this mystery series is the careful research the author does in his novels.  In the afterward, he explains the history behind this mystery.  While the events seem supernatural to the citizens of this German town in the late 1660s, they actually have a basis in science.

I have enjoyed the other books in the series, and this one was no exception.

Read: July 21, 2019

5 Stars

Books Set in Europe and South America

The Rhythm of Memory, by Alyson Richman (2004)

The Rhythm of Memory is about how the human is capable of overcoming tragedy even though it takes years to conquer the past. The novel follows two couples ~ Octavio and Salomé, and Samuel and Kaija, each with their own secrets of their respective pasts.

Octavio was an impoverished young student when he first met Salomé, a young girl from a wealth family.  They met in Santiago, Chile in the 1960s.  He sent her love poems by the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.  They married and soon Octavio became a successful and well-known movie star.  Because he became famous, one day in 1973, Neruda approached Octavio and asked for his help in coaching Salvador Allende with his political campaign.  Octavio became involved in politics and felt he had come to real meaning in his life.

After Augusto Pinochet staged a coup and Allende was killed, Octavio continued to speak out against Pinochet, never realizing that it would be his wife who would ultimately pay for his political decision.  Salomé was abducted and tortured for several months before being released.  Octavio, to protect his family, sought political asylum and his family relocated to Sweden.

Meanwhile, Samuel, whose Jewish family fled Europe and bounced around in South America before settling in Sweden, experienced his own feelings of tragedy. He met the beautiful Kaija and fell in love with her.  Kaija was a Finnish war “orphan”.  Her family was extremely poor, and during the Finnish-Russian War, sent her to Sweden to be with a temporary family in order to give her a better life.

Some of the family members intersect in Sweden, but secrets are still kept, which threaten to tear families apart.

I enjoyed this novel, although I found the author sometimes repeated herself in several places once the action moved to Sweden.  Still, the characters were vivid and really came off the page.

Read: July 6, 2019

5 Stars