Patient Number 7 by Kurt Palka

Inspired by a true story and based on a wealth of family documents,
this elegant and compelling novel chronicles the lives of two families from the
1930s through the coming of the Nazis and World War II, and the long, difficult
post-War period to the present. A must-read for fans of Irene Nemirovsky, Hans
Fallada, and Bernhard Schlink's The Reader.

 



This vividly realized, masterfully executed novel is a window into a
little-explored corner of history. Patient Number 7 is a story
of love between an aristocratic young woman and the cavalry officer -- later
Panzer officer in the German army -- she marries; between friends who help each
other through the Nazi takeover of Austria, the war, and what was sometimes
worse, the "liberation"; between a mother and her two very different
daughters. But it is also the story of a nation's darkest days, and its slow
recovery during one of the most convulsive, violent periods of human history.
Beautifully written, haunting, and ultimately redemptive, it is a work of great
skill and great compassion.






Patient Number 7 gives reader a unique glimpse into how
World War II impacted Austria. Based on family documents, author Kurt Palka has
drilled down into everyday life to demonstrate how all lives were affected by
the Nazi Third Reich.












The main character is Clara Herzog, a young woman from a well-to-do
family who attends university in Austria. As a philosophy student, she is the
student of Sigmund Freud and other notable famous mentors. Against her family’s
urgings, she falls in love and marries a cavalry officer who soon joins the
Panzers in the German army. Left alone, she struggles to raise their two
daughters while war rages around them. She faces numerous conflicts ranging
from losing her position at the university to Third Reich party members to
being raped by a Nazi officer.







Patient Number 7 is about one woman’s endurance and the choices she is
forced to make for herself and her family. What I found most fascinating was how
Nazis slowly infiltrated all businesses, all levels of government, and society
in general creating a wave of fear and slowly taking over all aspects of Austrian
life. This is a unique, compelling, multi-layered novel about an unforgettable
woman!











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