Caging Skies - Hardcover

Leunens, Christine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1419739085 ISBN 13: 9781419739088

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2019

Synopsis

The inspiration for the major film Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi

An avid member of the Hitler Youth in 1940s Vienna, Johannes Betzler discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa behind a false wall in their home. His initial horror turns to interest—then love and obsession. After his parents disappear, Johannes is the only one aware of Elsa’s existence in the house and he alone is responsible for her fate. Drawing strength from his daydreams about Hitler, Johannes plans for the end of the war and what it might mean for him and Elsa.

The inspiration for the major film Jojo Rabbit by Taika Waititi, Caging Skies, sold in over twenty countries, is a work of rare power; a stylistic and storytelling triumph.  Startling, blackly comic, and written in Christine Leunens’s gorgeous, muscular prose, this novel, her U.S. debut, is singular and unforgettable.

About this title

About the Author

Christine Leunens is the author of three novels translated into more than fifteen languages. Her novel Caging Skies is an international bestseller, sold in sixteen countries and the basis for a major new film by director Taika Waititi. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, she’s spent most of her life in Europe and now lives in New Zealand. She holds a Master of Liberal Arts in English and American literature and language from Harvard University. A former model, Leunens was the face of Givenchy, Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, and others.

Review

"A bold novel of great fierceness, insight, and emotional savagery. I admire Leuens's refusal to soft-soap anything, even as, while reading, I had to put the book down and pace around the room. But if you stick with Caging Skies, you'll get an entire era distilled into two people, a Tolstoyan marvel."(Historical  Novel Society)

"The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Book Thief, The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas - all are brilliant books that give us a glimpse into the Jewish experience during WWII. Caging Skies is no exception - and might be the most brilliant of them all... Disturbing, moving, eminently readable, enthralling throughout - this is a story you won't be able to put down."  (My Weekly)

"It is a beautiful novel, powerful, different, and ambitious. It's without a doubt in the malaise one feels when reading Caging Skies that one recognises the surprising, surprising power of the novel. A profound malaise, which lasts well after the read, sign of a very rare power, that of a truly good book, which knows how to carry the reader into a story. Christine Leunens [. . .] always has the immense merit of surprising and captivating. Caging Skies is one of these books that cannot be forgotten." (Le Monde)

"A vivid and deeply compelling novel, Caging Skies is an existential battle of moral and ethical extremes. Christine Leunens is an adept and eloquent storyteller."(Georgia Hunter, New York Times bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones)

"Leunens is a strong writer, her prose supple and darkly engaging. Her depiction of wartime Vienna is nearly cinematic and utterly convincing."(Kirkus)

Edition details

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1419739085
• ISBN 13: 9781419739088
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304