The Blind Side of the Heart

Author: Franck, Julia ISBN: 9780099524236 Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE UK Year first published: 01 Sep 2010 Pages: 432 Format: Paperback / softback An international bestseller, great family novel, a powerful portrayal of an era, and the story of a fascinating woman. Amid the chaos of civilians fleeing west in a provincial German railway station in 1945 Helene has brought her seven-year-old son. Having survived with him through the horrors and deprivations of the war years, she abandons him on the station platform and never returns. This is a tale of hope, loneliness and love, and of a life lived in terrible times. It is a great family novel, a powerful portrayal of an era, and the story of a fascinating woman. Shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2010.