The Reader

The Reader is a haunting modern classic that follows fifteen-year-old Michael Berg, whose secret affair with the enigmatic Hanna takes a shocking turn when she reappears years later as a defendant in a Nazi war crimes trial. As Michael grapples with the revelation of her past and the moral complexities it unveils, he confronts the deeper question of how his generation should reckon with the legacy of the Holocaust. Through this poignant narrative, the novel explores the chasm between Germany’s pre- and post-war generations, the burden of guilt and innocence, and the profound silence that often surrounds historical trauma.