The Reader

· Weidenfeld & Nicolson · Narrated by Sam Peter Jackson
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4 hr 16 min
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The million-copy international bestseller

'A masterly work. Read this and read it again' - Observer

'A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of German conscience' - Independent

'Examines the nature of understanding and tests the limits of forgiveness' - Times

For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems.

Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realise that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret.

The Reader is an international bestseller and a true modern classic, the essential Holocaust novel, examining the gap between Germany's pre- and post-war generations, between the guilty and the innocent, and between words and silence.


'For generations to come people will be marvelling over The Reader' - Evening Standard
The million-copy international bestseller 'A masterly work. Read this and read it again' - Observer 'A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of German conscience' - Independent 'Examines the nature of understanding and tests the limits of forgiveness' - Times For 15-year-old ...

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About the author

BERNHARD SCHLINK was born in Germany in 1944. A professor emeritus of law at Humboldt University, Berlin, and Cardozo Law School, New York, he is the author of the internationally bestselling novels The Reader, which became an Oscar-winning film starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes, and The Woman on the Stairs. His latest novel, Olga, was a no.1 international bestseller. He lives in Berlin and New York.

Sam Peter Jackson is an actor, playwright and filmmaker. As an actor he most notably appeared in the BAFTA-winning Nuremberg and the BBC's D-Day. He is very established in the world of voice overs and has lent his voice to many high-profile documentaries, commercials, audio plays and video games, as well as TV shows and films, such as Wonder Woman, Bohemian Rhapsody and The Crown. As a playwright, his play Public Property ran at Trafalgar Studios in London's West End and earned him a 2010 WhatsOnStage Award nomination for Best New Comedy. Sam has written and directed six short films, which have won awards, sold for broadcast and distribution, as well as screened at BAFTA, the BFI and festivals worldwide. His latest film Clothes & Blow was nominated for the 2018 Iris Prize - Best British Short and recently won Best Comedy at the 2019 Beeston Film Festival. Sam is natively bilingual and works in both English and German.

BERNHARD SCHLINK was born in Germany in 1944. A professor emeritus of law at Humboldt University, Berlin, and Cardozo Law School, New York, he is the author of the internationally bestselling novels The Reader, which became an Oscar-winning film starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes, and The Wo...

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Narrated by Sam Peter Jackson