Summary of The Blind Side of the Heart
“The Blind Side of the Heart” follows the life of Helen Würsich, a German woman of Jewish descent during the first half of the 20th century. The novel traces her childhood in Bautzen (now in eastern Germany) around 1900, her youth in 1920s Berlin, and her years as a wife and mother during the Nazi regime and the Second World War in Stettin (then Germany, now Poland). The story opens with a dramatic scene in which Helene abandons her son Peter at a chaotic train station in Pasewalk in 1945.
Reasons to read The Blind Side of the Heart
“The Blind Side of the Heart” is an intriguing but dark historical novel that explores themes of motherhood, identity, and child abandonment. It became a bestseller in Germany upon its release and won the 2007 German Book Prize (Deutscher Buchpreis). The German title “Mittagsfrau” or “midday woman” refers to a spirit in old Slavic legends. Julia Franck, a German writer, wrote several historical novels set in 20th-century Germany, including “Back to Back” (“Rücken an Rücken”) and “West” (“Lagerfeuer”). “The Blind Side of the Heart” was published in the USA under the slightly different title “The Blindness of the Heart”.
Original title: Die Mittagsfrau
Year of publication: 2007
Nr of pages: 432
