The Scrapbook

A Novel

De: Heather Clark

Narrado por: Cassandra Campbell, Daniel Henning, Philippe Klaus, Mark Sanderlin

From the award-winning author of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath, a stunning debut novel: the story of an intense first love haunted by history and family memory, inspired by the startling WWII scrapbook of Clark’s own grandfather, hidden in an attic until after his death

“An elegant, unsettling novel about the burden of history and the illusions of love.”—Sana Krasikov, author of The Patriots

The traumas of the past and the aftershocks of fascism echo and reverberate through the present in this story of a lifechanging seduction.

Harvard, 1996. Anna is about to graduate when she falls hard for Christoph, a visiting German student. Captivated by his beauty and intelligence, she follows him to Germany, where charming squares and grand facades belie the nation’s recent history and the war’s destruction. Christoph condemns his country’s actions but remains cryptic about the part his own grandfather played. Anna, meanwhile, cannot forget the photos taken by her American GI grandfather at the end of the war, preserved in a scrapbook only she has seen.

As Anna travels back and forth to Germany to deepen her relationship with the elusive Christoph, her perspective is powerfully interrupted by chapters that follow both of their grandfathers during the war. One witnesses the plight of Holocaust victims in the days after liberation and helps capture Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, while the other fights for Nazi Germany. Their fragmented stories haunt Anna and her lover two generations later—and may still tear them apart.

Not a “World War Two novel” in the traditional sense, The Scrapbook delivers a consuming tale of first love, laced with a backstory of dark family legacies and historical conscience.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing a map illustrating THE FIGHTING RECORD OF THE BLACKHAWKS IN WORLD WAR II, from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Heather Clark (P)2025 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

One of The Millions’ Most Anticipated 2025 Books

One of Zibby Owens' Summer Reads Pick

One of the Los Angeles Times' 30 Must-Read Books for Summer

"Clark uses her first novel to explore a highly literary and highly troubled relationship. [The Scrapbook] is at once a rich historical novel and a philosophical study of how much influence past generations have on our affections.”—Los Angeles Times

“The Pulitzer finalist enthralls in The Scrapbook, her passionate and perceptive first novel.”—Publishers Weekly (cover and starred review)

"Heather Clark’s The Scrapbook is a masterpiece. This beautifully crafted, quietly devastating love story reminds us of the epic impact of the Second World War across continents and through generations, its scars perhaps most poignantly felt in the intimate interactions between two solitary people."—Rebecca Donner, New York Times bestselling author of All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days

What Remains

My dad was a WW2 vet so I'm always looking for good stories that have ties to that era. Inspired by her grandfather's scrapbook, the author wove dual stories -- decades apart -- about the impact of WW2 on different generations. Well written, the book was nicely paced and held my interest. Some won't like the ending but I thought it was perfect.