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A ferociously intelligent debut novel about a young amnesiac's descent into madness in contemporary Berlin, and a country wrestling with its dark past.
A young woman named Margaret stumbles one morning from a forest outside Berlin, hands dirty, clothes torn. She can remember nothing of the night in the woods, nor—she soon realizes—anything of the previous months. She returns home to her former life.
Two years later, she receives a letter from a mysterious doctor, who summons her to an appointment, claiming to be concerned for her fate. Margaret keeps the appointment, but when she leaves the doctor's office, the entire city is transformed. Nazi ghosts manifest as preening falcons; buildings turn to flesh; reality itself wheels.
This is the story of Margaret's race to recover her lost history—the night in the forest, and the chasm that opened in her life as a result. Awash in guilt, careening toward a shattering revelation, Margaret finds her personal amnesia resonating more and more clamorously with a nation's criminal past, as she struggles toward an awakening that will lead her through madness to the truth, and to the unanswerable agony of her own actions.
Ida Hattemer-Higgins has written a novel about amnesia—individual, cultural, historical—about memory and oblivion, fantasy and reason, myth and redemption in our time. An unforgettable story from a bold and prodigiously gifted young talent.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
John Ferrebee
reviewed The History of History on February 13, 2013
The History of History
The sad thing about this work is that Hattemer-Higgins is potentially a powerhouse writer. When she writes with focus, the page is on fire and the story gallops along like a madwoman escaping the asylum. She is brilliant. You just can't get enough of what she's going to say next, where she's going to take you. Unfortunately, there are just not enough of those pages to redeem the novel.
First of all, she tries too hard, and it is painfully evident in numerous passages. I felt, at times, that I was being given a Kindergarten Primer on the Holocaust; on guilt, both personal and collective; and on history itself. I was being lectured, admonished, instructed and sometimes even berated. Really? Does the reader deserve this?
Her characters are weighed down with mind-boggling obtuseness and mind-bending obliqueness. She doesn't know where she's going, so how can they? And so, by implication, how can we? It's like following David Lynch's dwarf around in the dark -- but not nearly as much fun.
The metaphors become painful. For one, the city as flesh, as woman, is hammered again and again. (Yes, I get it, I say after the 10th time. Now please stop.) And then, you begin to question your own sanity. Maybe she didn't mean what I think she meant, because she keeps repeating it, so maybe I should change my mind.
I think there is a brilliant story hidden in this little (wal)nut, but she needs a rewrite. Where was the editor in all of this? If she lost 30%, and tightened the story line she would light up the sky, for it is evident that there is much in her that can shine.
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