Rachel Seiffert creëert verhalen die gewone levens belichten tijdens buitengewone historische momenten. Haar werk duikt in de diepgaande morele complexiteiten en de veerkracht van individuen die verstrikt raken in de stromingen van belangrijke gebeurtenissen. Seifferts proza wordt gekenmerkt door diep psychologisch inzicht, en biedt lezers een kijkje in het innerlijk van personages die voor immense uitdagingen staan. Haar kenmerkende stem wordt geprezen om haar empathie, precisie en vermogen om lezers door tijd en ruimte te transporteren.
The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary Germans: Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour; Lore, a twelve-year-old girl who in 1945 guides her young siblings across a devastated Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and, fifty years later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his loving grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.
From the title piece, in which a young biologist conceals his discoveries at a polluted river from a local woman, to the family aided by an enemy in 'The Crossing', to the old man weighing his regrets in 'Francis John Jones, 1924. This title captures the lives of author's characters in their most essential, secret moments.
Stevie comes from a long line of people who have cut and run. Just like he has. Stevie's been to London, taught himself to get by, and now he's working as a labourer not so far from his childhood home in Glasgow... But he's not told his family - what's left of them - that he's back. Not yet. He's also not far from his Uncle Eric's house: another one who left - for love this time. Stevie's toughened himself up against that emotion. And as for his own mother, Lindsey ... well she ran her whole life. From her father and Ireland, from her husband, and eventually from Stevie too. Moving between Stevie's contemporary Glaswegian life and the story of his parents when they were young, this is a powerful novel about the risk of love, and the madness and betrayals that can split a family. Without your past, who are you? Where does it leave you when you go against your family, turn your back on home; when you defy the world you grew up in? If you cut your ties, will you cut yourself adrift? Yearning to belong exerts a powerful draw, and Stevie knows there are still two people - his father and his grandmother - waiting for him to walk home. Rachel Seiffert is an extraordinarily deft and humane writer who tells us the truth about love and about hope.
When Alice and Joseph meet, they fall quickly into a tentative but serious relationship. Alice's family is full of absences and Joseph harbours an unspeakable secret from his time in the army in Northern Ireland. When Alice's widowed grandfather begins to tell Joseph about his RAF experiences in 1950s Kenya, something still raw is tapped in Joseph;
Set in the harsh winter of 1945, a family's act of kindness leads to unforeseen peril when a mysterious stranger arrives at their door. The story explores themes of compassion and the moral dilemmas faced during wartime, highlighting the tension between empathy and the potential consequences of one's actions. As the narrative unfolds, the family's decision puts them in a precarious situation, challenging their notions of safety and trust amidst the chaos of war.
Seiffert's prose is not showy, but graceful and precise. The misery of the dank streets is relieved by flashes of light and humanity The Economist