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Summary
Summary
It is 1941. In occupied Denmark, an uneasy relationship between the Danish government and the Germans allows the country to function under the protection of Hitler's army, while Danish resistance fighters wage a bloody, covert battle against the Nazis. Fredrik Gregersen, caretaker of a small farm in Jutland, profits from helping Jewish fugitives cross the border into Sweden. Cinematic in its atmosphere, suspenseful as a thriller, The Second Winter tells the story of a man who must choose between evils in a lawless world.
Author Notes
Craig Larsen was born in 1968 and is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Columbia Law School. His first novel, Mania , was published in 2009. A single father, Larsen has lived in New York and Europe. He currently resides in Northern California.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Guy de Maupassant's short story The Necklace (1884) has had a number of adaptations, including those by literary masters Henry James and W. Somerset Maugham. Larsen joins the group with this breathtaking novel set during a harsh winter in WWII Jutland that is built entirely around a jeweled necklace that bears the crest of the Romanovs. The necklace is stolen from a Jewish refugee family by an absolute brute of a man. When he sends his son to Copenhagen to sell it, the son gives the necklace to a Nazi officer in exchange for a beautiful, half-Jewish prostitute. There is none of Maupassant's grim melodrama here, but there is much brilliantly rendered pathos, as the characters struggle to survive despite the utter futility of their lives. It is a richly narrated story that brings the horrors of the Holocaust and the merciless depravities that accompany war into vivid focus. There is a remarkable cinematic quality to the novel, from the barrenness of Jutland to what remains of the glitter of Copenhagen. An absolute page-turner and a discussion-group leader's dream.--Murphy, Jane Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In 1969, a woman smuggles a necklace out of East Berlin. Events move back in time: 1939, Poland, the eve of the German invasion. Young Polina is raped by her uncle. Soon after, she loses her family-her mother is Jewish, and her father is arrested with her. Polina is handed over to her uncle but flees. She hides for a while but eventually is forced into prostitution. She ends up in Denmark. It's 1941, the second winter of the Nazi occupation. The brutish caretaker of a farm smuggles Jews across the border to neutral Sweden in return for payment. He robs one of his customers and finds a necklace. It is the subsequent history of that necklace that occupies the rest of the novel. Polina plays a role, but the jewelry eventually vanishes. The caretaker is murdered, while his son survives. This isn't a world rich in happy endings-most of these people behave poorly-but all is redeemed, of sorts, by what happens decades later. Verdict Larsen's (Mania) impressive second novel is filled with compelling though not always attractive characters. A solid choice for adventurous readers.-David Keymer, Modesto, CA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.