{"product_id":"once-the-deed-is-done-1","title":"Rachel Seiffert: Once the Deed Is Done [2026]","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF \u003ci\u003eTHE DARK ROOM \u003c\/i\u003eAND \u003ci\u003eA BOY IN WINTER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'This fine novel investigates the fate of displaced people in the hazardous, dirty backwash of the second world war'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Marvellous\u003c\/b\u003e . . .\u003cb\u003e a wide-ranging novel that beautifully balances the tumultuous reach of history with the everyday concerns of ordinary people'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eDAILY MAIL\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ePowerful\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003eSeiffert's writing beautifully captures this devastating moment of history\u003c\/b\u003e' \u003ci\u003eSPECTATOR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'The patron saint of this gripping novel is Bertolt Brecht. This is a fascinating novel by one of our very best writers' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eJEWISH CHRONICLE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo be truly alive means having to make choices. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo be truly alive is also, quite simply, to love.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNorthern Germany, 1945. Dead of night and dead of winter, a boy hears soldiers and sees strangers - forced labourers - fleeing across the heathland by his small town: shawls and skirts in the snowfall. The end days are close, war brings risk and chance, and Benno is witness to something he barely understands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeace brings more soldiers - but English this time - and Red Cross staff officers. Ruth, on her first posting from London, is given charge of a refugee camp on the heathland, crowded with former forced labourers. As ever more keep arriving, she hears whispers, rumours of dark secrets about that snowy night.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe townspeople close ranks, shutting their mouths and minds to the winter's events, but the town children are curious about the refugees on their doorstep, and Benno can't carry his secret alone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A complex, intelligent, deeply compassionate novel about the unglamorous aftermath of war \u003c\/b\u003e. . .\u003cb\u003e A brilliant piece of story-telling' \u003c\/b\u003eANDREW MILLER, author of \u003ci\u003eTHE LAND IN WINTER\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'T\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehis entire novel reverberates in ways that only haunt the reader more and more deeply, long after its last page' \u003c\/b\u003ePAUL HARDING, author of \u003ci\u003eTHIS OTHER EDEN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'S\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehe has brought to life a complex interaction between survivors on both sides with humanity and compassion' \u003c\/b\u003eLINDA GRANT, author of \u003ci\u003eTHE STORY OF THE FOREST\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Seiffert, Rachel","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":53173901623635,"sku":"9780349014159","price":14.3,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/9780349014159.jpg?v=1772833753","url":"https:\/\/chaptersbookstore.com\/products\/once-the-deed-is-done-1","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}