Shadow and Light
by
Jonathan Rabb
Noir historical
detective fiction in the Weimar Republic: film and crime
In 1927, post-Versailles Berlin suffers under the burden of war
reparations while figures like Joseph Goebbels and the German Workers
Party organize. Kriminalpolizei chief inspector Nikolai Hoffner
arrives at the UFA film studio to investigate the apparent suicide of
film executive Thyssen. Hoffner's investigation takes him into
the
darker sides of Berlin's sex and drug trade as Hoffner relies on the
insights of an unexpected ally Alby Pimm, leader of Berlin's crime
syndicate as well as director Fritz Lang. Chief Inspector
Hoffner's investigation comes close to home when his activities bringto
light family entanglements. His son Georg works for UFA and his new
love interest, Leni Coyle, is an American talent agent for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a rival of UFA in the film industry.
Alienated from his son Sascha over the earlier death of his wife during
an investigation, Hoffner discovers that his own son has become aligned
with the growing right wing movement, becoming an aide to Joseph
Goebbles.
Jonathan Rabb's SHADOW AND LIGHT gives a haunting, dark portrait of
Berlin society in the Weimar Republic between WWI and WWII, a murky
area often glossed over or seen only through the perspective of one of
the World Wars. In SHADOW AND LIGHT, the reader feels the
uncertainty of the times as poverty and hardships caused by war
reparations create a dangerous undercurrent of political fervor and
corruption. Against this backdrop, Jonathan Rabb positions UFA
film studio as the center of the crime investigation. The reader
sees the technical innovations within the film world, the creative
activity and sometimes uncertain position of aspiring starlets, the
larger business competition between Germany and America, and the
shadowy birth of an ominous political movement. Jonathan Rabb
does not gloss over the rising anti-semitism of Berlin society but
rather shines a light on its shadowy underlying presence not only in
society but in Hoffner's own son. Chief Inspector Nikolai Hoffner
is a most intriguing central character. Able to feel the pulse of
the city through a crime map, an association with criminal Alby Pimm or
high-powered film executives, Nikolai Hoffner is a man who can see
beyond black and white divisions to get to the heart of the crime and
all the various assorted links his investigation has to seemingly
disparate corners of society. SHADOW AND LIGHT is an innovative
historical detective mystery. At times challenging with a plot
that weaves through several areas of Berlin society that appear at
first glance to have little in common and a cast of characters both
real and imaginary, SHADOW AND LIGHT does an excellent job of
portraying a city on the verge of major change alongside the
uncertainty of the times. Historical film buffs will appreciate
Jonathan Rabb's portrayal of the undercurrents of the film industry of
the time for an intriguing glance at the technical inventions in the
works, the insider's look into the economic competition and the use of
film as political propaganda. Though privatized in 1921,
Universum Film AG's 1917 earliest origins began as a government-owned
company for WWI propaganda. In Jonathan Rabb's SHADOW AND LIGHT,
the reader discovers the shadowy beginnings of the film innovations
that will become public in later UFA films. Likewise, the
activities of Joseph Goebbles take on a chilling presence as today's
readers see his character through the lens of his activities in WWII.
Dark and often mysterious, Jonathan Rabb's narrative structure can be
best described by the title SHADOW AND LIGHT, with a shifting glance at
one dark corner and then another. The path to discovery does not
follow a carefully logical or straight path but rather casts light on
several areas like the spotlights that illuminate the dark sky in the
cover illustration. Readers searching for an easy detective
mystery with everything spelled out should elsewhere. On the
other hand, fans of noir fiction searching for
a new narrative voice that challenges the reader's intellect, literary
imagination and historical curiosity will find a reading gem in SHADOW
AND LIGHT.
Publisher:
Sarah Crichton Books (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) (March 2009)
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