Summary of Summer Before the Dark
“Summer Before the Dark” recounts the summer of 1936, spent by a group of émigré writers from Austria-Germany, in Ostend, on the Belgian North Sea coast. Among them are two of Europe’s most celebrated authors, Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth, both of Jewish descent, whose works have been banned by the Nazis. The book paints a vivid portrait of the friendship between these two men, as they spend a last summer in Ostend, enjoying the sun but also worrying about their finances and the future of Europe.
Reasons to read Summer Before the Dark
“Summer Before the Dark” captures the lost world of Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth, two great European writers on the run from the Nazis, who found temporary refuge at the Belgian seaside resort of Ostend. Volker Weidermann is a German writer and literary critic. He based this book on many letters, diaries and biographies.
Setting: Ostend (Belgium)
Original title: Ostende. 1936, Sommer der Freundschaft
Year of publication: 2014
Nr of pages: 176
