A review by weblet
After Midnight by Irmgard Keun

dark inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Keun wrote this as an expose of the German Nazi government, published in 1937 and told through the voice of Sanna.  It is not unusual for an author to create a narrator who is young and innocent thereby engaging us emotionally through the sad loss of their innocence.  Keun has created a compelling voice in her narrator; engaging, charming and able to provoke sympathy in the reader. Sanna speaks in the voice of the newly ‘streetwise’, not long arrived in the city to live with her brother.  She explains to us in a half excited and amused voice about the role she must play in the relationships of those around her. <As the dangers of arrest, violence and death increase so begins a form of breakdown.> I had not heard of this writer before but will certainly read more of her books.