Sanderling - by Anne Weber (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

How do you live with a history you can't escape? What did it mean to be German one hundred years ago? And what is it like today? These are the questions at the heart of Sanderling, a classic work of literary inquiry by Anne Weber, one of Germany's leading contemporary authors. Weber embarks on a personal journey into the past to uncover the life of her great-grandfather Florens Christian Rang (1864- 1924), whom she nicknames Sanderling after the darting shorebird. A Protestant pastor in Prussian-ruled Poland, Rang served a church whose mission to "Germanise" the local population would later be echoed in the murderous ambitions of the Third Reich.

Review Quotes

"A searing examination of family and historical legacy, of how the past extends into the present."--The Observer

"Sanderling is a rare book: meticulous, honest, unpretentious, interrogative, and utterly compelling." --Irish Examiner

About the Author

Anne Weber is an author, and a translator into both French and German. She studied in Paris and has worked for several publishers. She has written a dozen books, each in a German and French version. Her book Epic Annette has been translated into 15 languages and won the 2020 German Book Prize. She has also been awarded the Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Preis and the Joseph-Breitbach-Preis.

Neil Blackadder translates prose and drama from German and French. His translations have been staged in London, New York and other cities, and he has received grants from the NEA, PEN, and the Howard Foundation.