ABOUT
THE BOOK

The renowned author, Rudolf Herter, is in Vienna, having been invited there to read from his new masterwork, The Invention of Love. During one television interview he is confronted by questions that will come to haunt him: can a work of imagination help to understand the nature of evil? Can a modern-day novelist write of the horrors of war and, in particular, of Adolf Hitler.
Later in his visit, Herter is approached by an elderly couple, the Falks, who, inspired by his performance, wish to pass on to him a painful true account of their own. They force him to promise that he will not tell a soul until after their deaths, only then can the truth be revealed.
As servants at Hitler’s Bavarian retreat, Berghof, the Falks looked after Hitler’s lover, Eva Braun, a permanent guest. In time, they would all share a closely guarded secret. And, ultimately, their lives would become even further intertwined – through an act of brutality that would scar them forever.