Opening in Berlin just as Hitler’s rise has begun, art historian Rebecca Birrell’s first novel follows Hannah Sherman who turns her back on her family, determined to become an artist rather than marry into a life of domestic drudgery.
Using her seamstress skills to pay her rent, Hannah establishes a life for herself: mornings sketching at the museum; an hour in Saul’s bed; nights with Maria visiting Berlin’s clubs leading to an affair with Charlotte, a brilliant dancer. Meanwhile, the papers are filled with praise for the politician Germany is convinced will lift it from its humiliation. Anti-Semitism, once covert, becomes increasingly open. As Hannah falls under her patron Elke’s spell, she’s asked to practice an uncomfortable deception and discovers her work’s being used in ways she would never have countenanced. By 1933, Hitler is chancellor: Hannah, Saul and Charlotte watch events unfold over the following years with dread.
Full of evocative descriptions, Birrell’s debut is a gorgeous, immersive novel which wears its meticulous research lightly. Hannah is an engaging narrator, passionate, intelligent and vibrant; easy prey for Elke’s flattering attentions, blinded by desire for this beautiful, sophisticated woman. Birrell’s principal characters are beautifully realised, the increasing horror of their situation summoned up by small details, their reluctance to tear themselves away from their friends, family and homeland entirely believable. This is a period and place often written about in fiction, but Birrell’s powerful yet understated writing feels fresh, bringing it vividly to life.

This is a fascinating story and like nothing I'd come across before. The idea of a young Jewish girl painting the pictures loved by the Nazi elite for portraying their wives as German Venuses... so complex. Hannah's relationship with Elise is just as interesting to watch from the outside as she is manipulated by the elder woman yet you end up feeling sorry for Elise more than Hannah, until the rise of Hitler of course, when Hannah's vulnerabilities suddenly become very apparent. I loved Saul, Olga, Charlotte, even Hannah's parents- it's a beautifully authentic story- brilliantly written and clearly very well researched.