Josefโs great passion is the radio. His skill and technical abilities attract the attention of influential men who offer him a job as a shortwave operator. But when Josef begins to understand what theyโre doing, itโs too late; heโs already a little cog in the big wheelโpart of a Nazi espionage network working in Manhattan. Discovered by American authorities, Josef is detained at Ellis Island, and eventually deported to Germany.
Back in his homeland, fate leads him to his brother Carl's family, soap merchants in Neussโwhere he witnesses the seductive power of the Nazis and the warโs terrible consequencesโand finally to South America, where Josef hopes to start over again as Josรฉ. Eventually, Josef realizes that no matter how far he runs or how hard he tries, there is one indelible truth he cannot escape: How long can you hide from your own past, before it catches up with you?
Copyright 2020 by Klett-Cotta-J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger GmbH Stuttgart, Germany; Translated by Marshall Yarbrough
Ulla Lenze was born in Germany in 1973. She studied music and philosophy at the University of Cologne. In 2020, she was awarded the Lower Rhine Literature Prize The Radio Operator. She currently resides in Berlin. The Radio Operator is her first novel available in English.