My Brother's Shadow (review)

As the first World War staggers to a close in 1918, German civilians suffer from food shortages and many look to the cessation of hostilities as a mixed blessing that brings disappointment and uncertainty for the future as well as an undeniable sense of relief. Sixteen-year-old Moritz lives in a divided family. His father died earlier in the war, his older brother, charged up with nationalist fervor, is now a soldier on the Western front, and his mother works in a munitions factory by day and as a Socialist agitator by night. Moritz inherits his brother's membership in a local gang that scams and outright steals food, and although he's ashamed of his involvement in petty crime, he's slow to embrace his mother's political aspirations for better times in a democratically elected German state. His own hope for the future lies in his nascent efforts as a writer, which already show signs of leading to a career in journalism. When his brother returns, permanently disabled and eager to find a scapegoat on which to blame his perceived failure and misery, the family erupts as their respective values collide. Schröder's fictional family portrait puts a human face to the political power struggle at the war's end and illuminates the first rumblings of anti-semitic sentiment that would soon clear a path for Nazi ascent. Though the dialogue is sometimes stiff, the issues are clear and their effects on individuals clearer. Readers who are aware of the aftermath closing in on Moritz and his family will feel a chill looming over his romance with a Jewish neighbor and the illusory nature of the family's brief respite after the war.