Rachel Seiffert

The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary Germans: Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour; Lore, a twelve-year-old girl who in 1945 guides her young siblings across a devastated Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and, fifty years later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his loving grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.

The Dark Room tells the stories of three ordinary Germans: Helmut, a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s who uses his craft to express his patriotic fervour and, fifty years later, Micha, a young teacher obsessed with what his loving grandfather did in the war, struggling to deal with the past of his family and his country.

Stevie comes from a long line of people who have cut and run. Just like he has.Stevies been to London, taught himself to get by, and now hes working as a labourer not so far from his childhood home in Glasgow. But hes not told his family - whats left of them - that hes back. Not yet.Hes also not far from his Uncle Erics house: another one who left - for love this time. Stevies toughened himself up against that emotion. And as for his own mother, Lindsey ... well, she ran her whole life. From her father and Ireland, from her husband, and eventually from Stevie too.This is a powerful novel about the risk of love, and the madness and betrayals that can split a family. If you cut your ties, will you cut yourself adrift?Rachel Seiffert is an extraordinarily deft and humane writer who tells us the truth about love and about hope.

From the author of The Dark Room comes a strikingly powerful collection of stories exploring themes of guilt, love and sacrifice with a haunting emotional precision. With a range of settings as diverse as the Scottish seaside and post-Communist eastern Germany Seiffert uses the locations of these stories to bring her characters into relief. Powerfully evoking our human need for connection, Field Study takes us on journeys that demonstrate both the fragility and adaptability of our emotions, as well as the vast potential for danger and vulnerability created by all types of love - familial, platonic or romantic. Seiffert isolates and captures not only the underlying and compelling sorrow of love, but also the joy and desire for that love that keeps us alive.

Stevie comes from a long line of people who have cut and run. Just like he has. Only hes not so sure he was right to go. Hes been to London, taught himself to get by, and now hes working as a laborer not so far from his childhood home in Glasgow. But Stevie hasnt told his familywhats left of themthat hes back. Not yet. Hes also not far from his uncle Eric, another one who leftfor love this time. Stevies toughened himself up against that emotion. And as for his mother, Lindsey . . . well, she ran her whole life. From her father and Ireland, from her husband, and eventually from Stevie, too. Moving between Stevies contemporary Glaswegian life and the story of his parents when they were young, The Walk Home is a powerful novel about the risk of love, and the madness and betrayals that can split a family. Without your past, who are you? Where does it leave you when you go against your family, turn your back on your home; when you defy the world you grew up in? If you cut your ties, will you cut yourself adrift? Yearning to belong exerts a powerful draw, and Stevie knows there are still people waiting for him to walk home. An extraordinarily deft and humane writer, Rachel Seiffert tells us the truth about love and about hope.This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.

Now a Major Motion Picture: in Lore, Rachel Seiffert powerfully examines the legacy of World War II on ordinary Germans--both survivors of the war and the generations that succeeded them. It is spring of 1945, just weeks after the defeat of Germany. A teenage German girl named Lore has been left to fend for herself. Her parents have been arrested by the Allies, and she has four younger siblings to care for. Together, they set off on a harrowing journey to find their grandmother. As we follow Lore on a 500-mile trek through the four zones of occupation, Seiffert evokes the experiences of the individual with astonishing emotional depth and psychological acuity.

Martin is a graduate student spending a week undertaking scientific field study in a neighbouring, post-Communist country. He sees a residual bitterness among the towns people about the empty promises of an abandoned ideology. Will he allow this bitterness to flavour his own work?Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

In Blue, Kenny sets about furnishing and decorating his first flat. However, his giddiness does not last long. Even as his family and friends aid him in the feathering of his nest his worries mount higher and higher, and a young pregnant girl is always on his mind.In Tentsmuir Sands, a family outing to the Scottish seaside yields an early lesson in mortality for the youngest member. This honest and delicate tale presents an image of family life that is both sweet and ephemeral.Part of the Storycuts series, these two stories were previously published in the collection Field Study.

A PhD student interviews her friends grandfather for her thesis. While not quite meeting her eyes, he recounts his wartime history, lingering on an excursion that has never been far from his mind. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

The beekeeper has lived in solitude for some fifty years. One day while waiting for Spring to descend he spies a young boy crossing the valley towards the copse where he keeps his hives. With a dependent forced upon him, the beekeeper must face the outside world and all its bewilderments once again.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

Alice tacitly agrees with Kims teachers when they hint that her daughter is not an easy child. A single mother of two, the bond with her second-born didnt present itself readily. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

A young couple find their attempts to move to a new flat thwarted when their three year-old son rebels against the idea of leaving the only home he has ever known. It is as difficult to will a connection to dissolve as it is to force one into being.Part of the Storycuts series, this story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

In Architect, an architect of rare charm and vision encounters an emotional crisis that threatens his career. When the ensuing strain starts to affect his family relationships, he must rethink his priorities.In The Crossing, a mother and her four young children fleeing a warzone must rely on the assistance of a strange old man as they attempt a treacherous river crossing. Part of the Storycuts series, these two stories were previously published in the collection Field Study.

A young Polish woman has left her son to work as a temporary farm hand across the German border. The prospect of a few weeks wages is not her only motivation for crossing the border, though.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

When Jochen left his father behind in East Germany he carried his resentment with him. This lingering antipathy intrigues and confuses his American wife, Hannah. When a tentative reconciliation is broached and the family travel to Germany, she embarks upon a pilgrimage with the old man. The two wind up on a snowy corner in East Berlin where a final act of rebellion will be staged.Part of the Storycuts series, this story was previously published in the collection Field Study.

Rachel Seiffert, author of The Dark Room, powerfully evokes our need for human connection in this brilliant and haunting group of stories. From the title piece, in which a young biologist conceals his discoveries at a polluted river from a local woman, to the family aided by an enemy in The Crossing, to the old man weighing his regrets in Francis John Jones, 1924 - Seifferts acclaimed, refined prose movingly captures the lives of her characters in their most essential, secret moments.A Rocky Mountain News Best Book of the Year.