The House by the Lake

By: Thomas Harding

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the summer of 1993, Thomas Harding travelled to Germany with his grandmother to visit a house by a lake. It had been a holiday home for her family, that she had been forced to leave as the Nazis swept to power.

As he began to piece together the lives of the five families who had lived, he realised that this house had witnessed violence, betrayals and murders, had withstood the trauma of a world war and the dividing of a nation.

©2015 Thomas Harding (P)2015 W F Howes Ltd

Critic Reviews

"A gripping thriller, an unspeakable crime, an essential history." (John Le Carré on Hanns and Rudolf)

A historical treasure

Would you consider the audio edition of The House by the Lake to be better than the print version?

Mark Meadows narration is excellent. It is clear throughout and his pronunciation of German words/terms is spot on, which I appreciation.

What other book might you compare The House by the Lake to, and why?

This book is actually very unique in my opinion in that it is the history of a century told from one central location, a small house in the village of Groß Glienicke close to Berlin. However, it is also a history of the village itself, and of Berlin and of Germany. I also think that the best history books are those that tell the story through they eyes of the people who experienced it, which this book does brilliantly.

Which character – as performed by Mark Meadows – was your favourite?

I felt a lot of the characters touched me in their own way. The Jewish Alexander family, who bought the house as a family retreat, only to have to abandon it following anti-Semitic persecution by the ruling Nazi party. Then the famous German composer Will Meisel and his famous actress wife who also abandoned it following Soviet occupation of East Germany. Then Kühne who lived their probably the longest but could never look out and see the lake due to the Berlin wall blocking the view. It is fascinating how world events outside had such an impact on all who lived in the little house.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt quite amazed toward the end of the book, just looking back at how time passes and life goes on. I did feel quite emotional after finishing the book and then looking online at the restoration project, Alexander Haus. There are some videos on that site, one is filmed when Elsie Harding (one of the Alexander daughters) then elderly returns to the house and meets Wolfgang Kühne who then shows her around her past childhood retreat. Elsie recalls how it all used to be, and I felt a tear well up then.

Any additional comments?

This is a very special and important book in European, and indeed, world history. I speak German so I was able to understand the occasional German word. This isn't essential but it is nice to understand the title of a song, or something written on a sign, there aren't loads of these and the important ones usually have translation by the author. As someone who is very interested in Germany this was especially interesting to me. I also enjoyed learning about the composer Will Meisel, whose film scores I will now have to dig out and listen to! Overall this is a remarkable story of people and of a place that connects them all together throughout generations.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Fascinating

I read this book a few years ago but only visited the Alexander Haus last month. I was also fortunate enough to be allowed inside. Now I am reading it again and it is so much better being able to visual everything in my mind. It is a fascinating story I wish there could be a second book.

5 families, one house, a fantastic journey

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it took me on Berlin’s historical journey through two world wars, the cold war and beyond. It is warmly written, with all of the characters brought very much to life as is the house itself. I live in Berlin and my next free weekend will be spent finding the house by the lake and all of the other places in the surrounding area. For those of you who can’t make that trip, there are lovely images and a great short movie showing the house under Alexanderhaus.org

Fantastic!

A fantastic book and very well read.

The use of the house to tell its residents ' and Germany' s history is inspired.

The book reminds me a little of Len Deighton's "Winter" as a chronicle of German history through the experiences of families.

Most recommended.

A lesson in East/West German History

This book is an overlong and plodding account of a house and the various families who lived in it. From the turn on the 19th into the 20th Century and on and on into more or less the present day.
Without any engaging characterisations the book is told almost entirely in the third person.
Not my glass of schnapps.

House by the Lake - Terrible narration

House by the Lake - Terrible narration
I don’t know if this book might have better to listen to if there had been a different narrator but as it happens the narration brought nothing to the book.
Narrator had no enthusiasm even at the tensions moment

Thoroughly enjoyable

I really loved this book. Touches on all the major themes of German society in the 20th century. Highly recommended.

History in a Family Sory

Beautifully written and a very absorbing book. This is not only a very interesting story about a family home but very important history that consequently affected the world. Highly recommended and I would suggest all students read this book.

Not so much a story, more an education.

So many parallels with my own family history. I have also memories of visiting family friends in the DDR and the hypocrisy of the Intershops that only took hard currency and the locals could only look longingly at the merchandise.
A great book that I will recommend to all my friends and family.

Good and bad

The book depicts the history of this house near Berlin which saw inhabitants from the mid 1800s whose lives together make up a history lesson about Germany. German society and politics under the Kaiser, before and after WW1 and WW2 are illustrated through the series of owners and inhabitants of the house, including the author's ancestors.
Especially the early parts of the book were interesting, although much of the personal details of the inhabitants seemed unnecessary and the descriptive details were too concise to keep my attention all of the times.
The stories about the house after WW2 began to be more interesting again, with a variety of information about life in Eastern Germany that were impressive. Again, I felt uncomfortable knowing some of the more personal details of the inhanitants, thinking that I would not have that kind of information out there about me and my family.
At that point the book lost me again, as I wondered how ethical is was to document such information for the purpose of the book. It dawned on me that this was going to be a literary museum ratehr than an edited story.
The main point about the house is that many parties lay claim to it, due to changes of laws and misappropriations at various stages in history.
The house has become somewhat of a symbol of the history of Germany. Like I would in a museum, I wanted to skip the parts that weren't of interest to me and that contained too many details.
The ending made up for it with a rather moving last chapter and epilogue. Definitely recommended for people interested in European history and probably better read, as it is easier to skip parts and to benefit from the illustrations.