(pb; 1992)
From the back cover:
“Berlin, 1964. The Greater
German Reich stretches from the Rhine to the Urals, and keeps an uneasy peace
with its nuclear rival, the United States. As the Fatherland prepares for
a grand celebration honoring Adolf Hitler’s seventy-fifth birthday and anticipates
a conciliatory visit from U.S. president Joseph Kennedy and ambassador Charles
Lindbergh, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei is called out to investigate
the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin’s most prestigious suburb.
“But when Xavier March discovers the identity of the body, he also uncovers
signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich. And,
with the Gestapo just one step behind, March, together with the American
journalist Charlotte Maguire, is caught up in a race to discover and reveal the
truth—a truth that has already killed, a truth that could topple governments, a
truth that will change history.”
Review
Fatherland is an excellent alternate-history thriller, near-flawless in its flow, action and often nuanced characters. I was immediately immersed in its familiar-yet-strange world (set in Germany). I was put off by a key character’s noble but (I felt) unnecessary, plot-convenient sacrificial actions—I can see why Harris might’ve been tempted to have said character do that, in order to set up a cinematic set-piece of a memorable ending but it seems there was a simpler, less character-dumb way of getting to that finish/scene. That said, Fatherland is a great book, and one of my favorite reads of 2025.
#
Fatherland’s
cinematic counterpart, a cable/HBO film of the same name, began airing on November
26, 1994. It was directed by Christopher Menaul, its screenplay penned by Stanley Weiser and Ron Hutchinson. Rutger Hauer, who played Xavier March, and Miranda Richardson (Charlie) starred, supported by other great players.
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