Bernhard Schlink, página 2 de 6

When Gerhard Self happens upon one of the most intriguing cases of his career, he can't resist. From the start, the job is an unusual one: Herr Welker, partial owner of the German bank Weller and Welker desperately wants to write a history of his bank, but he has one problema silent partner, whose name does not appear anywhere in the bank's records. Welker wants Self to track this silent partner down. Shortly after he takes the job, Self is accosted by a man who frantically hands him a suitcase full of money and speeds off in a car, only to crash into a tree, dying instantly. Perplexed, but more determined than ever, Self follows the money. Soon he finds himself traveling to eastern Germanyshortly after the fall of communismbattling Nazi youth, and closing in on a money laundering ring with connections to the Russian mafia.

Gerhard Self, the Sweet-Afton smoking, sambuca-swilling, most unlikely of PIs is back in a new tale of deception and intrigue, set against the backdrop of post-reunification Germany. After a chance encounter with the owner of a prestigious private bank, the now septuagenarian detective is enlisted to delve into the institution's history, apparently in the name of a book to commemorate the bank's foundation. But his seemingly anodyne brief - to discover the identity of a sleeping partner from several decades before - throws up far more questions than answers. As it becomes clear that the sleeping partner is in no way the most mysterious aspect of the bank's history, Self begins to suspect his mission may have been but a ruse to lure him into the shady world of the bank's enigmatic masters - a certain Herr Welker and his steely Russian foster brother Samarin. Trying in vain to extricate himself and his increasingly shaky heart from the web of deceit - and to work out who really is the baddie of the piece - Self is thrown headlong into a tale of money-laundering, murder and mafiosi. But who is blackmailing whom? Did Welker's wife really die in a tragic accident? And why is a washed-up old Stasi man pretending to be Self's long-lost son? Join Gerhard, the irascible armchair philosopher, on his most danegrous and far-reaching mission to date.

Após mais de vinte anos de afastamento, um grupo de velhos amigos e amantes reúne-se durante um fim-de-semana. Numa casa de campo isolada desenterram memórias e comentam os diferentes rumos que as suas vidas tomaram. Mas esta não é uma simples reunião de amigos, nem as suas conversas sobre os velhos tempos constituem as típicas reminiscências de juventude. A verdade é que se juntaram para celebrar a libertação de um dos membros do grupo: após vinte e três anos de prisão, Jörg, condenado por terrorismo e homicídio, acaba de ser libertado. No passado, este amigos partilhavam ideais revolucionários. Agora, todos eles asseguraram o seu lugar na sociedade: Henner é jornalista, Ulrich é um homem de negócios, Karin é pastora de uma pequena igreja e Ilse professora. Para trás parecem ter definitivamente ficado os dias de luta e idealismo…

Old friends and lovers reunite for a weekend in a secluded country home after spending decades apart. They plumb their memories of each other and pass quiet judgments on the life decisions each has made since their youth. This isn't, however, just any old reunion, and their conversations of the old days aren't typical reminiscences. After 24 years, Joerg - a convicted murderer and terrorist, is released from prison on a pardon. A former member of the Red Army Faction (or Baader-Meinhof Group), the announcement of Joerg's release is sure to send shock waves throughout Germany. But before this happens, his group of friends - most of whom were RAF sympathizers - gather for his first weekend of freedom. They are invited by Christiane, Joerg's devoted sister, whose suffocating concern for her brother is matched only by the unrelenting pull of Marcko, a dangerously passionate young man intent on using Joerg to continue the cause. The author of international phenomenon THE READER returns with a tale of old jealousies, explosive politics and uncertain futures. Meet the Baader-Meinhof Group, 25 years on...

Young lawyer Georg Polger gives up a comfortable existence in Germany to work as a freelance translator in the South of France. But business in the picturesque village is far from booming, and Georg struggles to make ends meet. One day he is approached by a certain Mr Bulnakov, who wants Georg to take over a local translation agency. The previous owner has just died in mysterious circumstances. Everything seems to be going perfectly: Georg falls in love with Bulnakov's attractive secretary, Francoise, and takes on a lucrative project left unfinished by his predecessor, translating plans for military helicopters. But everything changes when Georg notices Francoise copying his plans. She tells Georg that Bulnakov has threatened to harm her brother, who lives in Poland, if she refuses to do his bidding. When Georg confronts Bulnakov Francoise disappears, and mysterious elements within the village try to hound him out. All he has left of Francoise is a picture she gave him of a church, which she told him was in Warsaw. But when a friend tells him the church is actually in New York, Georg flies to America in a desperate bid to track down Francoise, and unravel the web of deceit. Tailed from his arrival, Georg quickly realises that he is stuck between the CIA and the KGB, and further out of his depth than he can begin to comprehend. But which side was he working for? Who is the mysterious Mr Bulkanoff? And did he ever know the real Francoise?

Young lawyer Georg Polger gives up a comfortable existence in Germany to work as a freelance translator in the South of France. But business in the picturesque village is far from booming and Georg struggles to make ends meet. One day he is approached by a Mr Bulnakov, who wants Georg to take over a local translation agency whose previous owner has just died in mysterious circumstances. Everything seems to be going perfectly: Georg falls in love with Bulnakov's attractive secretary, Francoise and takes on a lucrative project left unfinished by his predecessor, translating plans for military helicopters. But everything changes when Georg notices Francoise copying his plans. She tells Georg that Bulnakov has threatened to harm her brother, who lives in Poland, if she refuses to do his bidding. Georg quickly realises that he is stuck between the CIA and the KGB and further out of his depth than he can begin to comprehend. But which side was he working for?

A conversation between strangers on a long-haul flight will change lives for ever; one night in Baden-Baden will threaten to tear a couple apart; a meeting with an ex-lover will give a divorcee a second chance; holiday lovers will struggle in the harsh reality of daily routine...As Schlink's characters navigate their lives, we discover the many faces of love: the small betrayals, hidden truths and...

For decades the painting was believed to be lost. But, just as mysteriously as it disappeared, it reappears, an anonymous donation to a gallery in Sydney. The art world is stunned but so are the three men who loved the woman in the painting, the woman on the stairs. One by one they track her down to an isolated cottage in Australia. Here they must try to untangle the lies and betrayals of their shared past - but time is running out. The Woman on the Stairs is an intricately-crafted, poignant and beguiling novel about creativity and love, about the effects of time passing and the regrets that haunt us all.

Michael Berg, un noi de quinze anys amb problemes de salut, un dia coneix a la Hanna, una dona madura de més de trenta anys, amb qui inicia una relació amorosa, una hist.ria que hauran de viure en secret.Despres d''anys de no veure''s, es retroben en un tribunal: en Michael ara es advocat, i ella esta acusada d''un crim del passat. Per a en Michael aquest passat obscur es una sorpresa, per., amb tot, ell continuara fent-li de lector, com feia quan tenia quinze anys i eren amants secrets. Ara les hist.ries que li llegeix les ha d''enregistrar en cintes magnetof.niques que li envia a la preso. Michael Berg, un noi de quinze anys amb problemes de salut, un dia coneix a la Hanna, una dona madura de més de trenta anys, amb qui inicia una relació amorosa, una hist.ria que hauran de viure en secret.Despres d''anys de no veure''s, es retroben en un tribunal: en Michael ara es advocat, i ella esta acusada d''un crim del passat. Per a en Michael aquest passat obscur es una sorpresa, per., amb tot, ell continuara fent-li de lector, com feia quan tenia quinze anys i eren amants secrets. Ara les hist.ries que li llegeix les ha d''enregistrar en cintes magnetof.niques que li envia a la preso.

À quinze ans, Michaël fait par hasard la connaissance, en rentrant du lycée, d’une femme de trente-cinq ans dont il devient l’amant. Pendant six mois, il la rejoint chez elle tous les jours, et l’un