It's the 1930s. Christine, A young Austrian woman whose family has been impoverished by the war, toils away in a provincial post office. Out of the blue, a telegram arrives from an American aunt she's never known, inviting her to spend two weeks in a Grand Hotel in a fashionable Swiss resort. She accepts and is swept up into a world of almost inconceivable wealth and unleashed desire, where she allows herself to be utterly transformed. Then, just as abruptly, her aunt cuts her loose and she has to return to the post office, where - yes - nothing will ever be the same.
Stefan Zweig (1981-1942) was the most widely translated writer of the 1920s and 1930s. A Jewish pacifist, he was driven by the Nazis into exile, first in London, then in Brazil, where he committed suicide in a pact with his wife. The manuscript for The Post Office Girl was found among his papers. Zweig's other novels include Beware of Pity and Chess Story.
Title: The Post Office Girl
Author: Stefan Zweig
ISBN: 9780954221720
Binding:
Publisher: Sort of Books
Publication Date: 2009-02-01
Number of Pages: 288
Weight: 0.2949 kg
An extraordinary work...there's a volcanic energy to Zweig's writing...wholly mesmerising. * The Herald *
A far more powerful, worthwhile and enjoyable novel than our present bestsellers -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *
This haunting novel is a monument to Zweig's skill * Sunday Telegraph *
Language that pierces both brain and heart * The Spectator *
Stefan Zweig was a late and magnificent bloom from the hothouse of fin de siecle Vienna...The posthumous publication of a Zweig novel affords an opportunity to revisit this gifted writer...The Post Office Girl is captivating. * The Wall Street Journal *
Zweig is one of the masters of the short story and novella, and by 'one of the masters' I mean that he's up there with Maupassant, Chekhov, James, Poe, or indeed anyone you care to name. -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *
A brilliant writer. * New York Times *
I do think this is exceptional.There are scenes of hope and despair that are so lucid, powerful and alive. A classic. -- Esther Freud
