A WAYWARD CAREER: NOVEL

Synopsis

Lena Wiegel was a child at the end of the Second World War and scared by the incomprehensible changes around her. She never forgot the terror of seeing her father carried off as a potential war criminal while they were traipsing along a country road in search of her mother. Being left by herself in a ditch for days and nights, then seeing him return humiliated, left its mark on the highly imaginative child.
Years later eighteen-year-old Lena managed to find a job with the British Forces stationed in Germany. She works as a filing clerk in a glum office on the edge of a shop floor, the only girl, harrassed by soldiers and disgruntled old Germans. She escapes from this drudgery by starting a love-affair with the unit´s commanding officer. He has her sacked when she becomes too hardy, then reinstates her from a feeling of guilt. Time and again her faith in this improbable father figure is shattered. Still Lena doggedly hangs on to the illusion she has created for herself. The tug of war between these two reluctant lovers takes place under the eyes of a cynical but sympathetic sergeant, who despite his refusal to get involved becomes one of the major protagonists of the story. His tragic end leaves Lena and her lover at the mercy of a hostile world.
This love story set against the background of post-war Germany serves to analyse the frame of mind of a people struggling to overcome defeat. Lena relates the events, her keen observations and shifting emotions in an often comical, even sardonic way. It is a study of characters who have little in common and yet develop a bond while around them a new vision emerges, the victors retreating and the defeated raising their heads once more.

Click to read the first chapter of A WAYWARD CAREER

© Sibylle Voss, August 2004