Olga is a brilliant meditation on living through the great moments of history. We now know what it is to live through a moment in history having (hopefully) rounded the corner with this global pandemic. Olga is one of the few characters in WWII fiction that is aware of the moment as she lives it. But she is also caught in the reality of living day-to-day life in that moment of history. I fell into this book on a rainy day with a warm cup of tea and that’s exactly how this beautifully melancholy book should be enjoyed.
Olga by Bernhard Schlink, (List Price: 27.99, HarperVia, 9780063112926, September, 2021)
Reviewed by Annie Childress, E. Shaver bookseller in Savannah, Georgia