Portland Public Library

In times of fading light, the story of a family, Eugen Ruge ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell

eng

no index present

fiction

In times of fading light

812252792

Eugen Ruge ; translated from the German by Anthea Bell

Lannan translation selection

the story of a family

This expansive family saga, set against the backdrop of the collapse of East German communism, begins in September 2001 as Alexander Umnitzer, who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, leaves behind his ailing father to fly to Mexico, where his grandparents lived as exiles in the 1940s. The novel then takes us both forward and back in time, creating a panoramic view of the family's history: from Alexander's grandparents' return to the German Democratic Republic to build the socialist state, to his father's decade spent in a gulag for criticizing the Soviet regime, to his son's desire to leave the political struggles of the twentieth century in the past. With wisdom, humor, and empathy, Eugen Ruge draws on his own family history as he brings to life the tragic intertwining of politics, love, and family under the East German regime.--From publisher description