Historical novel set in Weimar Berlin

28th February 2019

In the Full Light of The Sun by Clare Clark, historical novel set in Weimar Berlin.

The novel is set against the backdrop of the 1920s/30s Berlin when the political and financial situation was in flux, changing week by week. The hyperinflation of the 1920s, with its concomitant food and fuel shortages soon gave way to the rise of Nazism and xenophobia.

The novel set against an entrance door of the Weimar period, Berlin – Friedrichshain

It is against this backdrop that the author has set her novel, with the leitmotif of art and the little-known Van Gogh forgery scandal. This is the story of the role of art in the period and of chosen characters who played their fictional part in the world of art dealership and connoisseurship.

There is deception, self-deception and lives lived in tumultuous times. A novel of the time with prescient relevance to what is going on with the UK and Europe now. The narrative charts the involvement of three Berliners – Julius, a middle-aged art expert who wrote “The Making of Modern Art”; young Emmeline, only 17 years old when the book opens and Rachmann, a mysterious art dealer. Several hitherto unknown paintings by the famous Van Gogh have come to light and the characters’ individual roles are explored as their lives overlap.

Moving from the hedonistic – oftentimes nihilistic – times towards the rise of Hitler, the nature of art and the styles that are abhorred and conversely lauded are brought into sharp relief as the political spectrums begin to change. Art became a political statement and weapon.

This was an interesting novel to read whilst in Berlin, to get a feel for the footsteps past in the city. Currently Berlin is a city of cranes, there are huge numbers of building projects across the landscape, but tucked away it is still quite possible to find gems of the era that survived bombings and destruction of WW2.

My art history tutor always said that when you visit a new city, always look up and it is amongst the gables and rooftops that you will find the true gems of a period. I took the photo below of a home in Kreuzberg and imagined some of the characters in the book conducting their affairs behind the windows.

I visited the new SPD building named after the politician Willy Brandt, which featured an exhibition of the Bauhaus style (coincidentally absolutely era correct for the novel) and through one of the windows I gazed down on the Hebbel Theatre, built early 20th Century… perhaps some of the characters would have walked past this striking building or might have attended a play there. Who knows.

This was a novel to savour in the capital city. I enjoyed it, particularly the art aspect. At times it was a little earnest but it is clear that the author has enjoyed the research and revelled in the era and the storytelling.

From the Historical Fiction Roundup of the Sunday Times (24.2.19): “With great skill and sympathy, Clark evokes a febrile society in which politics, love and art offer no certainties, and the ground always threatens to open beneath her characters’ feet”

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Follow Clare on Twitter

Come and join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

For more books to transport you to Berlin, just access the TripFiction database.

Subscribe to future blog posts