Summary of Address Unknown
“Address Unknown” is a short novella told through a series of letters, about the demise of a friendship between two men during the years 1932 to 1934. Max, a Jewish art dealer in San Francisco, writes to Martin, his friend and business partner, who has returned to Munich, Germany. What begins as a close friendship is destroyed as Martin abandons his liberal democratic beliefs and embraces Nazism. When Martin later refuses to help Max’s sister in her hour of need, Max resolves to take revenge.
Reasons to read Address Unknown
“Address Unknown” illustrates how people respond differently to political ideology, and how such ideology can infiltrate and destroy personal relations. The novella was a bestseller in the United States when it was first published in 1938 and is often credited with awakening American readers to the dangers of Nazism in Germany. It was rediscovered as a forgotten classic after the author’s death in the late 1990s. Kathrine Kressmann Taylor was an American writer, best known for “Address Unknown” and “Until That Day”.
Setting: Munich (Germany) & San Francisco (USA)
The Munich setting of this novel is the fictional Schloss Rantzenburg; the San Francisco setting is the fictional Schulse-Eisenstein Art Galleries.
Original title: Address Unknown
Year of publication: 1938
Nr of pages: 96
