Inspiring a major film, this gripping novel examines truth and lies, and lays bare our darkest impulses.

I was sure I heard steps up and down the hall in the middle of the night.

Johannes is an avid member of the Hitler Youth. As the war rages on, he discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl called Elsa behind a false wall in their large house in Vienna. His initial horror turns to love and obsession.

Both manipulating and manipulated, Johannes soon finds he is the only one aware of Elsa's existence in the house, the only one responsible for her survival.

‘It is a beautiful novel, powerful, different, and ambitious.’ – Le Monde

Author Biography

Christine Leunens is the author of three novels, which have been translated into more than fifteen languages. Born in Hartford, Connecticut to an Italian mother and a Belgian father, she has dual New Zealand/Belgian citizenship. She holds a Master of Liberal Arts in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University, and a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington. She now lives in Nelson and has completed a historical Franco-New Zealand novel, South of Memory, set around the time of the Rainbow Warrior bombing.