A Jewish Mother From Berlin [a novel] and Susanna [a novella]

In these two extraordinary works, published posthumously, Gertrude Kolmar's elegiac prose transports us into her characters' rich inner worlds even as it depicts the cold material realities of 1920s Berlin. In A Jewish Mother from Berlin, Martha Jadassohn's seemingly conventional life descends into chaos after the brutal rape of her five-year-old daughter. The ethereally beautiful protagonist of Susanna sets out in search of her lost lover, only to find herself floundering in a world where everyone else's perceptions clash with her own. Kolmar's powerful voice renders unforgettable these stories of two uncommon women who struggle in vain to find a sense of place in interwar Germany.