TEHRAN – “Child of the Rubble”, by the bestselling German author Mechthild Borrmann, has been published by Saless.

Mahshid Mirmoazzezi is the translator of the novel originally published in 2016.

The novel describes the life of a foundling in the ruins of Hamburg during 1946/1947. 

Interweaving tension and historical events are something Borrmann does like no other German author. 

This is borne out by her earlier works, bestsellers and highly acclaimed novels, “Wer das Schweigen Bricht”, “Der Geiger” und “Die Andere Hälfte der Hoffnung”. 

Little Hanno Dietz battles his way through the post-war years with his mother in Hamburg. Stone-breaking, hunting for old iron, dealing on the black market – this is his daily round. 

But one day, he discovers a dead body in the rubble of the ruins. And just next to it, a boy of around three years of age and surprisingly well-clothed. 

The child won’t speak; no relatives are to be found. So the boy grows up in the Dietz household. Years later the one-time rubble child finds himself on the trail of a crime with deadly links to his family.

Borrmann combines a gripping crime story with the dark reality of Germany immediately after the war. 

She skilfully combines three separate strands: the story of the Dietz family in Hamburg immediately after the war; the story of the Anquist family in April 1945; and Anna’s story as she delves deeper into her mother’s past in Hamburg in 1992. 

With convincing and sparing characterization, subtle action and searing images, Borrmann shows us the horrors of surviving even when the war is over. Hunting for food and fuel in the rubble, fleeing the Russian troops, or turning against each other: the past will eventually catch up with her characters.

Borrmann has already been awarded the renowned Friedrich-Glauser-Preis as well as the Deutscher Krimipreis.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian edition of Mechthild Borrmann’s novel “Child of the Rubble”.

MMS/YAW