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The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
 
 
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The Vanishing of Katharina Linden (Paperback)

by Helen Grant (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £5.21 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Puffin (2 April 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141325739
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141325736
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 11,200 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Lightness of touch, neatness of phrase and talent for observation enliven the darkness of the material. --The Sunday Times, April 19, 2009


Review

The excellent writing, and the eschewing of anything remotely winsome or mawkish, make this an eerily subtle literary page-turner. Wonderful.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping mystery for adults and teenagers alike, 31 May 2009
By Tom Alaerts "avid book reader" (Antwerp, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
In a nice small German town, young girls start disappearing. We experience the growing unease in town through the eyes of 11 year old Pia who is determined to unravel the mystery.
My summary may make this seem as a children's book on an adult topic. Actually, the suspense and adult writing style make it more suitable for both adults and older teenagers, who are less naive than Pia about the bad things that might happen.
This is actually a really good page-turner, far from being a generic pulpish thriller it is rather an endearing story that makes us reflect on how we perceived the world as a child, for example Pia's worry that her only real friend is the least popular boy in school, is more tangible than how she experiences the disappearances as something abstract, or an event from a cruel fairy tale. The story gets more intense, thriller-like towards the end.
The style is remarkably confident for a debut and utterly readable, with good dialogue, great filmic suspense, and several funny details (again often linked to Pia's perception), yet also poignant in the depiction of the slowly disintegrating marriage of Pia's parents: the father being a friendly level-headed German, while the British mother who never adjusted to life in Bad Münstereiffel being both manupilative and caring. This is actually a real city, and when you google it for pictures you may well conclude that the mother should do more effort to adjust, as it looks really nice. Another amusing detail is the sprinkling of a few German words throughout the text, and it's never a burden as the context or a short glossary at the end keep things clear - I think it adds character to the text. All the above make it an interesting and original work, that I think could well be translated to the screen.
In short, a recommended suspenseful book that strays from the beaten path.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read!, 11 Jun 2009
By Mr. Christopher Bond (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The Vanishing of Katharina Linden By Helen Grant

An enjoyable read from end to end - full of rich details and beautifully written.
The setting seems to truly come alive, with references to local customs and folklore alongside a real sense of place - this is not a fictional location but so real that you can almost feel the stones of the old town.
The characters are a blend of both the traditional German townsfolk, reserved and presenting an outward face of civility while harbouring long held suspicions, fear and resentment, alongside a splash of Englishness that seems to throw both cultures into contrast.
Although a child at the time of the story, the main characters narrative is told from an adult perspective, looking back at the dark events that occurred in the quiet town. This allows the language of the story to be told in a more adult way with fascinating description and wonderful detail.
The story itself touches on a subject that is truly relevant today and highlights the fear that so influences parents views of our children's safety but as it is told from a child's perspective it is all the more frightening and dark. While the adult characters struggle with truth and justice, the children challenge their fears and seek more direct answers with terrifying consequences!

Let's hope there are more books from this talented new author!
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, colourful, shocking: a great first novel!, 2 May 2009
By S. C. Macdiarmid (Wellington New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Helen Grant's first novel `The Vanishing of Katharina Linden' is a great read! I was hooked from the opening line; "My life might have been so different had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded." This extraordinary occurrence is actually rather incidental to the actual story, which revolves around the disappearance of several school girls in a small German town. The events are seen through the eyes of ten year old Pia Kolvenbach, a schoolgirl in a small town called Bad Munstereifel. It is this ancient town, with its rich background of traditions and folk-tales, which provide much of the delightful colour and texture of the story. It is the frequent reference to the old folk-tales which lead both narrator and reader to look for supernatural explanations as the plot unfolds, as schoolgirls vanish, one after another.

The story builds to a dark, shocking and satisfying conclusion. The dialogue is plausible and colourful. Grant is clearly not only an excellent interpreter of the behaviour of children, but an acute observer of the colour and customs of a small and conservative German community.

It is not clear from the cover notes whether this book is intended for adults or a younger audience. I assumed at first that it was aimed at the younger reader, because of the youth of the narrator. However, adults were all children once and I soon recognised that recollections of dark events observed in childhood can provide a gripping and satisfying story for adults. I really enjoyed this book and am certain that many, many other readers will too. I look forward to reading Grant's next offering!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Ideal Teen Thriller
The gripping plot and well drawn characters make this a fantastic read. The small German town creates an ideal background for the sometimes gruesome storyline - the glossary of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Lou Barnes

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book... but not for children?
A beautifully written book set in Germany just before the millennium. Young girls are going missing and 10yr Pia with her friend, Stefan, decide to solve the riddle, even if it... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Kelley Townley

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