Germans like to tell others what is right and wrong. She could question the masculinity of her time, and its developing nationalism. She has a clear vision – a sober view of an era in which many were drunk from the excitement of war, or drunk from the Nazis’ rise to power in 1933. But she does still seem like a good person. Olga is no dissident, not even in the Nazi period. The fact that there was a danger in it – a danger for Herbert and for others – was something she only came to terms with later. That has a certain appeal for Olga, particularly because her own opportunities are so limited. He is spirited and joyful and lively and daring he sets his sights high. What Olga finds fascinating about Herbert, and what she loves in him, is how excited and exciting he is.

There is this central contradiction in Olga’s character, that she loves a man like Herbert while having such different principles herself. She’s not modelled on one person, but in her lies a generation of women – of my grandmothers and aunts – who experienced similar things – women who had to live below their intellectual capabilities, often alongside men who lived above theirs. I was drawn to his longing for the emptiness of the desert, a kind of nihilism, which made young Germans rush to their deaths in World War I.īut then, I increasingly wondered what sort of woman might have loved and lived with such a man. He would eventually lead a poorly prepared expedition to the Arctic, the desert of snow and ice, which cost him his life. He was a young man who enrolled to join the war against the Herero in German Southwest Africa – now Namibia – and fell in love with the desert. I was inspired by a real-life officer turned explorer named Herbert Schröder-Stranz. I actually was first interested in Herbert. Olga is this remarkable autodidact who witnesses decades of German history.

The bestselling author and Berlin local discusses his novel, Olga, which travels through decades of modern history to ask: is it time to stop focussing on victims and villains?īook editor Alex Wells called Schlink to celebrate Olga’s new translation into English. Bestselling author and Berlin local Bernhard Schlink.

Olga by bernhard schlink