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The Woman on the Stairs  By  cover art

The Woman on the Stairs

By: Bernhard Schlink, Joyce Hackett - translator, Bradley Schmidt - translator
Narrated by: Christopher Grove
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Publisher's summary

In a museum far from home, a man stumbles onto a painting of a woman for whom he once, long ago, risked everything, and who then mysteriously disappeared from his life.

As a young lawyer, the nameless protagonist of The Woman on the Stairs became entangled in the affairs of three people mired in a complex and destructive relationship. An artist, the woman whose portrait he had painted, and her husband became a triangle that drew the lawyer deeper and deeper into their tangled web. Now, encountering the painting that triggered it all, the lawyer must reconcile his past and present selves; when he eventually locates the woman, he is forced to confront the truth of his love and the reality that his life has been irrevocably changed.

With The Woman on the Stairs, the internationally acclaimed author of The Reader delivers a powerful new novel about obsession, creativity, and love. Intricately crafted, poignant, and beguiling, this is Bernhard Schlink writing at his peak.

©2017 Bernhard Schlink (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Exquisite...Schlink offers a profoundly moving meditation on how one's life is affected by the choices one makes along the way." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"[A] poignant meditation on recrimination and regret." ( Library Journal)
"A daring, hugely emotional work of literature." (Dagmar Kaindl, News)

What listeners say about The Woman on the Stairs

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Narrator gives nothing ...

The narrator might as well be reading it. In fact, he may have been. No effort was given to distinguish the characters. Not even a little. The story pace was slow. Very slow. I was interested in the characters some, and there was a point to it all. But ... Don't listen if you are lying on the beach ( you'll fall asleep)

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