Review: All for Nothing

All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to The New Yorker's James Wood and his article, "Four Books That Deserved More Attention in 2018", I picked up this historical novel via Kindle, and never looked back. It paints a picture of 1945 Prussia and an aristocratic German family making it through World War II with relative little struggle, other than having their patriarch off serving the nation in a kushy administrative job in Italy. As we are introduced to the family members and their immediate circle, we also meet travelers and others who stop by their estate. Each portrait is fascinating, and as the war's final chapters close in, we are drawn into increasing turmoil and decision-making. The stories are compelling and I learned a great deal from reading this novel.

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