Silent shadows - Eva Maria Knabenbauer

The division of Germany into two separate countries during the Cold War disrupted many lives, leaving many in the East to become the victims of a vicious system. In 'Silent Shadows', the Berlin Wall has fallen and an apprehensive Anni visits Aschersleben, the small East German town she escaped from when she was twenty. The visit awakens the past and she struggles to come to grips with memories of those who sought to oppress her and vivid recollections of a passionate love affair that ended with her escape to the West. Anni is accompanied by her friend, Victor, and, as she allows him to learn of the extraordinary events that shaped her life, their relationship deepens. But she resists commitment and finds herself holding back from a desire to deepen her involvement while she endeavours to come to terms with her past. Anni also tries to find Karin, her childhood school-friend, and when she does it is more painful than she had imagined it would be, revealing a number of bitter truths that they must both learn to live with. The fall of the Wall is not going to bring everything to a happy conclusion, for a new, invisible wall dividing East from West is fast bringing disharmony in an atmosphere where old grievances and suspicions die slowly as justice is sought.