Brecht’s Mistress
Publisher
:
Albin Michel
Parution date
:
2003
EAN
:
9782226141637
Description
Winner of the 2003 Prix Goncourt This fictional tale, set during the Cold War era, begins with playwright Bertolt Brecht’s return to East Berlin in 1948 after fifteen years in exile. His fight against Nazism has driven him first to Finland and then to the United States. Welcomed back to Germany with honors and acclaim, he becomes director at the Deutsches Theater, there creating a new kind of socialist theater that will have lasting influence in the world of drama. During this time he meets the young Viennese actress Maria Eich, a spy for the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police. She becomes his mistress even as she is embroiled in a love affair with her recruiting officer, Hans Trow. Suspicious, the German authorities want to know if Brecht, who has maintained his 1930’s communist ties, has changed in any way after his time spent in America. On the opposite side of the Atlantic, we learn that the FBI has also been keeping him under close surveillance. A fascinating plot unfolds, and what emerges is a touching portrayal of an artist at the end of his life who has lost many of his illusions.
Author
Jacques-Pierre Amette : Jacques-Pierre Amette was born in 1943. He is a novelist, playwright, and literary critic for Le Point.
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