From the bestselling author of A Whole Life, a moving account of an ordinary young man living through extraordinary times, and the lengths we will go to in order to protect what we love.
Robert Seethaler was born in Vienna and divides his time between
his home town and Berlin. He is the author of five novels, of which
The Tobacconist is the fourth. He also works as an actor, most
recently in Paolo Sorrentino's Youth.
Praise for A Whole Life:
'A lovely contemplation of a life in solitude in a remote valley,
into which the modern world slowly intrudes.' Ian McEwan
'As haunting and as spare as Stoner . . . A profound, wise and
humane novel that no reader will forget.' Eileen Battersby, Irish
Times
'At once heart-rending and heart-warming. A Whole Life, for all its
gentleness, is a very powerful book.' Jim Crace
Set at a time of lengthening shadows, this is a novel about the
sparks that illuminate the dark: of wisdom, compassion, defiance
and courage. It is wry, piercing and also, fittingly, radiant.
*Daily Mail*
Seethaler blends tragedy and whimsy to create a bittersweet picture
of youthful ideals getting clobbered by external forces. The result
is a little like Great Expectations, only with dachshunds and
strudel.
*Observer*
Essential reading for the early years of the 21st century.
*Scotland on Sunday*
[The Tobacconist’s] portrayal of pre-war Vienna is tender and
elegiac. There are echoes of Arthur Schnitzler in Fran’z feverish
obsession with Anezka, Ödön von Horváth in minor characters such as
the neighbouring butcher who denounces the tobacconist to the
Gestapo, and Robert Musil in the texture of the city. The moment
when the frail, ill Dr Freud boards the train for London is an
elegy for the cultural and intellectual glory of early
twentieth-century Vienna . . . The Tobacconist remains unwavering
in its quiet, understated style and it is all the more devastating
for it.
*Times Literary Supplement*
Told with a dry wit that enhances, rather than disguises, the
sadness of its story, The Tobacconist is a touching miniature of an
ordinary life irrevocably altered by the larger forces of
history.
*Sunday Times*
A simple warmth and vulnerable, determined humanity combine to make
The Tobacconist [an] ideal temporary retreat from the madness.
*New European*
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