The Kaminsky Cure

About the Book

Willibald Brinkmann, a Lutheran pastor, has more than a sneaking admiration for Hitler, something his Jewish wife Gabi is unable to share.

It’s 1933 when the Brownshirts tell Willibald to ‘go find another twig to perch on’, and he loses no time abandoning his prestigious Berlin parish.

Humiliated and resentful, Willibald finds refuge in the tiny village of Heimstatt high in the Austrian Alps, where Gabi’s last child – and narrator of the story – is born. Then the Nazis arrive in Austria. Gabi struggles to protect her family against the ever-tightening vice of persecution and the remorseless approach of the Final Solution.

Terrifying yet darkly humorous, The Kaminsky Cure is the story of Gabi Brinkmann’s fight to keep her family alive in a world determined to destroy them.

About the Author

Christopher New was born in England, educated at Oxford and Princeton Universities and has spent much of his life in Asia, where he was Head of Philosophy at Hong Kong University. His novels include The Kaminsky Cure (Saqi Books), Shanghai, Goodbye Chairman Mao, The Road to Maridur and A Small Place in the Desert. He is also the author of The Philosophy of Literature. He divides his time between Europe and Asia.

Reviews

‘A masterly work, one that can stand proudly alongside Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum.’
Moris Farhi

‘A child’s-eye view makes delusion and hypocrisy shockingly stark … well researched and entertaining.’
Guardian

'An extravaganza of colourful characters.'
Washington Post