The Ascent - Stefan Hertmans Taschenbuch

The dazzling new novel by Stefan Hertmans author of the modern classic War and Turpentine. 'Magnificent' Philippe Sands 'Powerful and humane' Observer 'An utterly masterly book' Jonathan Coe In 1979 Stefan Hertmans fell in love with a dilapidated old house in Ghent Belgium which he restored to become his peaceful sanctuary. Now all these years later he learns that a bust of Hitler once sat on the mantelpiece and a war criminal and his family relaxed in its rooms. This shocking discovery sends Hertmans off to the archives to uncover the secrets of the house and to reimagine this man's l ife and expose the atrocities he's responsible for. We see Willem Verhulst as a weak narcissistic man who climbed high in the ranks of the SS a fascinating case study for the cruel and perverse mentality of the Nazis. The Ascent portrays the deep tragedy of Flemish collaboration during the Second World War as Hertmans masterfully brings history and the house to life imagining individual lives to tell the greater European story. Translated from the Dutch by David McKay