Deutschland

The cover image of Deutschland by Martin Wagner may misleadingly make you think of a Cujo-like horror novel, but although a scary dog on a chain does appear about a third of the way in, the novel about an extended family's summer holidays is actually a work of literary fiction with the theme of moral/ethical choices. What determines whether one is a good person? Do thoughts count, or only actions? Can good people do bad things? What if someone does a bad thing to prevent someone else from doing something worse? Are ethics something that arise naturally, or a human construct like the chain on a starving attack dog?
Set in England and written by an English author/playwright, Deutschland follows three main characters, one from each show more generation: Robert, the American expatriate step-grandfather; Kate – his wife Suzannah’s adult daughter; and Sam, Kate’s niece, around 10 or 12 years old.
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