The Seventh Gate - Hardcover

Zimler, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590207130 ISBN 13: 9781590207130

Publisher: Overlook Books, 2012

Synopsis

It's Berlin, 1932. Sophie is a smart and sexually precocious fourteen-year-old coming of age during Hitler's rise to power. Forced to lead a double life when her father and boyfriend become Nazi collaborators, she reserves her dreams of becoming an actress for her beloved elderly neighbor, Isaac Zarco, and his friends, most of whom are Jews working against the government in a secret group called the Ring. When a member is sent to Dachau, she realizes there must be a Nazi traitor in the group. But who? Through successive mysteries, reversals, and surprises --and a race against time --The Seventh Gate builds to a shattering end. In its chilling but sensuous evocation of the time and place, Richard Zimler's novel is a love story and a tale of ferocious heroism

About this title

About the Author

Richard Zimler was born in New York and studied journalism at Stanford University. He has published eight novels over the last fifteen years, including the famous The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon. He has won numerous prizes for his work, and is a contributor to the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Visit zimler.com.

Review

"A gripping, heartbreaking, and beautiful thriller . . . unforgettable, poetic, and original." — Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Young Stalin



"A moody, tightly constructed historical thriller that is both entertaining and instructive." — Richard Bernstein, The New York Times



"Explosive and prophetic." — Newsday



"Equal parts riveting, heartbreaking, inspiring, and intelligent." — San Francisco Chronicle



"Zimler (The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon) surpasses himself with this coming-of-age epic set in Berlin at the start of the Nazi era . . . the whodunit is captivating enough, but the book's power lies in its stark and unflinching portrayal of the impact of Hitler's eugenic policies on the infirm and disabled." — Publishers Weekly

"The Seventh Gate is not only a superb thriller but an intelligent and moving novel about the heartbreaking human condition." — Alberto Manguel, author of The Library at Night

"Zimler, a seasoned American writer living in Portugal, combines sexy coming-of-age adventures with coming-of-Hitler terrors in this powerfully understated saga . . . Adult fiction that counts on readers' ability to draw meaning from cultural signposts such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Greta Garbo and The Magic Mountain. But its plucky heroine gives it young adult appeal as well." — Kirkus



"Mixing profound reflections on Jewish mysticism with scenes of elemental yet always tender sensuality, Zimler captures the Nazi era in the most human of terms, devoid of sentimentality but throbbing with life lived passionately in the midst of horror." — Starred Booklist Review

"Adding a touch of Jewish mysticism to his historical thriller, Zimler (The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon) excellently captures the gamut of tumultuous emotions in his intense and detailed portrait of a city destined for war, and his exceptionally drawn characters struggling to survive in a world gone mad make for an unforgettable story." — Library Journal (Starred Review)

Edition details

• Publisher: Overlook Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1590207130
• ISBN 13: 9781590207130
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 400