"This novel is one of the finest attempts in English to convey something of two very strange places which no longer appear on the map of Europe... Shakespeare has told a very skillful story."
--"Evening Standard"

Given this book at a ladybirds Christmas party.

This was a very interesting book. I liked the glimpses into the former East Germany and also the search for identity which mirrored Germany's quest.

Thank you so much seethroughfaith for sending me this generous RABCK. I'm looking forward to reading it.

The blurb reads:

"When sixteen-year-old Briton Peter Hithersay discovers that he was the result of his mother's brief encounter with an East German political dissident in 1960, he leaves home in search of his heritage. In Leipzig he falls in love with a beautiful young woman who is beginning to question the way her society is governed. But his scheme to smuggle her out of the country ends badly and he is forced to return to England alone. When the two Germanies reunite nineteen years later, Peter goes back to look for the woman he has never stopped loving. His only clues are the nickname he gave her, Snowleg, and the archives of the state that drove them apart.

In Snowleg Nicholas Shakespeare explores to devastating effect the unassailable dictates of love and politics".

A book of two halves for me. I liked the first half and thought the book was well written. However, I found the second half, and the ending, irritating.

The rest of my review contains spoilers so I've changed the font to white. If you want to read it, highlight the space below with your cursor.

It seems to me that having had a good idea (young man discovers he has an East German father, is drawn to Germany, visits East, falls for girl, gets drawn into helping her escape then lets her down), Nicholas Shakespeare couldn't see how to take it forward to a satisfactory conclusion. The coincidence of Snowleg's grandmother coming under Peter's care for her last days was irritatingly implausible enough. Peter's failure to work out the connection was ridiculous. Consequently, the book annoyed me from then on. It got worse when Peter returned to Leipzig where he just happened to run into Renate. A good third of the book is spent on Peter's fruitless weekend search for Snowleg in Leipzig when it's obvious to the reader (and should be to him) that he's already arranged to meet her on the Monday.

I'm left disappointed that the potential of the idea, and Nicholas Shakespeare's writing ability, were wasted on a novel that ultimately left me frustrated and irritated.

On the seats nearest the ticket barriers, on the concourse, at about 07:40.