Darkenbloom

"It is 1989, and the residents of the Austrian village of Darkenbloom are uneasy. East German refugees on the village’s border with Hungary are raising the ghosts of World War II. The town has secrets; “good Nazis” and bad Nazis abound, and there are no Jews left. The book succeeds on multiple levels – it’s a gossipy, small-town satire that’s laugh-out-loud funny but also a historical mystery that lays bare the complicity of characters who have convinced themselves it is possible to see evil only in hindsight. It is this last idea that sticks with you. “There was always so much to do, we couldn’t pay attention to that,” the Greek chorus whispers. Pay attention, says the book."