The fourth novel in Ursula Hegi's acclaimed Burgdorf cycle is "a
thoughtful, sidelong approach to the worst moment in Germany's history
that invites us to understand how decent people come to collaborate with
evil" (Kirkus Reviews).
Children and Fire tells the story of one day that will forever
transform the lives of the people in Burgdorf, Germany, the fictitious
village by the river in Ursula Hegi's bestselling novels. February 27,
1934--the first anniversary of the burning of Reichstag, the Parliament
building in Berlin.
Thekla Jansen, a gifted young teacher, loves her students and tries to
protect them from the chaos beyond their village. Believing the Nazis'
new regime will not last forever, Thekla begins to relinquish some of
her freedoms to keep her teaching position. She has always taken her
moral courage for granted, but when each compromise chips away at that
courage, she knows she must reclaim it.
Ursula Hegi funnels pivotal moments in history through the experience of
Thekla, her students, and the townspeople as she writes along the edge
where sorrow and bliss meet, and shows us how one society--educated,
cultural, compassionate--can slip into a reality that's fabricated by
propaganda and controlled by fear.
Gorgeously rendered and emotionally taut, Children and Fire confirms
Ursula Hegi's position as one of the most distinguished writers of her
generation.
