Germany, 1926. When Richard and Paula meet in bustling, cosmopolitan Hamburg, everything feels possible. They fall in love, marry and are soon blessed with twins, a beautiful boy and girl. When Richard qualifies as a psychiatrist, life ahead looks bright. Their only sadness is that their son, Georg, was born deaf, although with his family to protect him they’re sure he’ll be okay.

But happiness turns to horror when the Nazis seize power and begin forcing doctors to euthanise anyone the regime deems imperfect. Suddenly, Richard is falsifying medical records to save his patients—and hiding Georg, whose deafness now makes him a target for the authorities.

With his family plunged into darkness and his son’s life in his hands, can Richard find the strength he needs to keep his family together and evade the world’s most merciless regime?

Dr Melanie Metzenthin was born in Hamburg in 1969 and still lives in the city. Her work as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist requires specialist insight into the mental state of traumatised patients, some of whom have committed criminal offences. When developing the characters in her novels, she enjoys drawing on her professional experience. She also writes psychothrillers under her pseudonym, Antonia Fennek.

Deborah Langton was born in Reading, England, studied German and French literature at Cambridge, and has worked in Munich, Berlin, Milan, Abu Dhabi, London and Manchester. After a rewarding first career teaching and lecturing, she moved into translation while still working at Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University and loves translating fiction best of all. Deborah now lives in a rural location not far from London and translates in her study with views towards England’s South Downs. She shares her life with her husband Chris, and their two wonderful sons, Joseph and Samuel.