Subterfuge

About the book

Subterfuge

Ernst is the son of Wilhelm Seligman, captain of the German U-boat U-112. After the submarine is lost at sea and the bombing of Hamburg kills his mother and grandparents, his young aunt Marta raises him through the desperate years that follow. In postwar Berlin, Ernst joins other youths scavenging for anything of value while Marta makes painful choices to keep them alive. When Ernst insists on discovering what happened to his father, he uncovers secrets Marta has tried to bury. With the irrepressible archivist Greta beside him, his search leads from Berlin to the American South—and toward the truth about a submarine officials claim never existed.