The Einstein Girl
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Review
'A stylish thriller... Strands of history and imagination are beautifully woven together.' --The Times
'A serious, well-informed and interesting thriller... Excellent period setting and numerous psychological insights - highly recommended.' --The Literary Review
'A first-rate historical thriller... Sington's grasp of period detail is awesome...His writing has a rich, lustrous quality.' --The Guardian
'Sington creates a sense of unease from the first page.' --The Herald
'Compelling until the end, The Einstein Girl is a stunning book that culminates with a shockingly dark twist.' --Aesthetica magazine
'A serious, well-informed and interesting thriller... Excellent period setting and numerous psychological insights - highly recommended.' --The Literary Review
'A first-rate historical thriller... Sington's grasp of period detail is awesome...His writing has a rich, lustrous quality.' --The Guardian
'Sington creates a sense of unease from the first page.' --The Herald
'Compelling until the end, The Einstein Girl is a stunning book that culminates with a shockingly dark twist.' --Aesthetica magazine
Review
'A dark and beautiful novel, a fascinating historical thriller, and a tender love story.' - Rebecca Stott, author of New York Times bestselling Ghostwalk
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Subtle, intelligent and thought-provoking, this is much more than a conventional thriller. It concerns two people searching for truth and hope in a world driven by hatred, ignorance and war; two lovers caught up in the great tide of history.
Martin Kirsch is a psychiatrist about to married into high society, but increasingly at odds with his own profession. At a time when the madness of industrial warfare seems not only possible but inevitable, the question of what constitutes sanity and insanity is, for him, unresolved. When a young woman he recognises from a brief, romantic encounter, turns up unconscious in a nearby hospital, her memory seemingly erased, he feels compelled to take over the case. With fascination turning (dangerously) to love, his investigations reveal a series of tantalizing connections between `Patient E' and Albert Einstein, the Nazis' most influential and outspoken enemy. Believing that Einstein himself may hold the key to unlocking his patient's mind, Kirsch travels into the shadows of the great physicist's life, sustained by the belief that with great wisdom comes great goodness. What he discovers is as troubling as it is strange - like Einstein's universe itself.
Like its characters, the setting of `The Einstein Girl' (mainly Germany in the months before Hitler comes to power) is specific and vividly brought to life, but its themes are universal: love and knowledge, the illusions and delusions human beings live by, the extent of responsibility we have for one another.
This is a sensitive, incisive and beautifully written book. While deeply mysterious, it never resorts to the kind of standard devices common to genre fiction; nor does it ever step over the line into implausibility. The final twist connects everything, and is one that should not be missed!
All in all, a unique and classy novel.
Martin Kirsch is a psychiatrist about to married into high society, but increasingly at odds with his own profession. At a time when the madness of industrial warfare seems not only possible but inevitable, the question of what constitutes sanity and insanity is, for him, unresolved. When a young woman he recognises from a brief, romantic encounter, turns up unconscious in a nearby hospital, her memory seemingly erased, he feels compelled to take over the case. With fascination turning (dangerously) to love, his investigations reveal a series of tantalizing connections between `Patient E' and Albert Einstein, the Nazis' most influential and outspoken enemy. Believing that Einstein himself may hold the key to unlocking his patient's mind, Kirsch travels into the shadows of the great physicist's life, sustained by the belief that with great wisdom comes great goodness. What he discovers is as troubling as it is strange - like Einstein's universe itself.
Like its characters, the setting of `The Einstein Girl' (mainly Germany in the months before Hitler comes to power) is specific and vividly brought to life, but its themes are universal: love and knowledge, the illusions and delusions human beings live by, the extent of responsibility we have for one another.
This is a sensitive, incisive and beautifully written book. While deeply mysterious, it never resorts to the kind of standard devices common to genre fiction; nor does it ever step over the line into implausibility. The final twist connects everything, and is one that should not be missed!
All in all, a unique and classy novel.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Atmospheric and elegantly written historical novel that winds its way through the shadows of Einstein's blinding genius. Set in Berlin in the months before the Nazis take power, it follows the journey of a war-scarred psychiatrist as he tries to uncover the identity and past of a celebrated female patient, known by the press as `The Einstein Girl'. Sington's grip on the period is extraordinary, and his writing is a pleasure in itself. Though billed as a thriller, it has much more in common with Sebastian Faulks or Pat Barker than it does with Robert Harris or Philip Kerr. So if it's explosions, psychopaths and a high body count you're after, look elsewhere. On the other hand, this book has more than its share of twists and unfolds in a way you certainly won't expect.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In pre-war Germany a young girl is found barely alive near Potsdam. She seems to have no memory and the only clue as to her identity is a handbill advertising a lecture by Einstein. Einstein has a summer house in the locality so there is a possibility that she was on her way there. The police are baffled and the press interested and soon she is named in the newspapers as the Einstein Girl.
Martin Kirsch is a sympathetic psychiatrist (who has coincidentally seen her before her accident) and is fascinated by her case and she enters his hospital for treatment. Strong links with Einstein emerge - but as we are in a world of insanity it is hard to know the truth from dreams. Even Martin has problems with reality as his latent syphilis moves into a dangerous stage.
The Einstein Girl is very good on describing the prevailing atmosphere of inter-war Europe. The emergence of the Nazis as a political force is well told - as are the subtle shifts in the requirements of the medical staff to collaborate with the authorities.
This was an intriguing read - quite challenging in parts. It was advertised as a thriller but it was not really part of that genre. It was not a "whodunit" - more of a "what's going on?"
Classy and intelligent.
Martin Kirsch is a sympathetic psychiatrist (who has coincidentally seen her before her accident) and is fascinated by her case and she enters his hospital for treatment. Strong links with Einstein emerge - but as we are in a world of insanity it is hard to know the truth from dreams. Even Martin has problems with reality as his latent syphilis moves into a dangerous stage.
The Einstein Girl is very good on describing the prevailing atmosphere of inter-war Europe. The emergence of the Nazis as a political force is well told - as are the subtle shifts in the requirements of the medical staff to collaborate with the authorities.
This was an intriguing read - quite challenging in parts. It was advertised as a thriller but it was not really part of that genre. It was not a "whodunit" - more of a "what's going on?"
Classy and intelligent.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Slow-paced and tedious
At first sight, this ought to be an excellent literary thriller. The hero, psychiatrist Martin Kirsch, is a liberal, complex character trapped within a traditional German medical... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Nigel Seel
Over researched
A page turner, alright. However it seemed to me that the author seemed undecided as to whether he was writing fiction or non-fiction. Read more
Published 10 months ago by ADAM
Worth it in the end
Certainly an intriguing historical novel based around fact that Sington then develops into a slow burner of a thriller. Read more
Published 17 months ago by freedomrulesok
Fact or Fiction?
The Einstein Girl is a thriller and a love story in one: a page-turner with emotion.
Positive - By using real and well-known characters from history one is never sure,... Read more
Positive - By using real and well-known characters from history one is never sure,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Trevor Johnson
Did not hold my attention well
I had a different impression to other reviewers, whereas they got into the book more as it progressed, I had the opposite reaction. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Pen pal
Too Many Threads
I am left with the feeling that not all the dots were joined up. Our hero, who is now a psychiatrist is riddled with syphilis, which he contracted during his service as a war... Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by Patricia
Worth persevering
It took a while to get into this book but it was worth persevering with as I enjoyed it in the end.
There is a 'flash-forward' scene at the beginning which confused me... Read more
There is a 'flash-forward' scene at the beginning which confused me... Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2009 by E. Potter
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