Fatherland is the 1992 alternative history novel written by Robert Harris, author of several other best-selling thrillers with historical and contemporary themes including Archangel, Enigma, The fear index, The ghost and Pompeii.
Set 20 years after Hitler's victory in the Second World War, Fatherland begins with the body of a prominent Nazi being found in suburban Berlin. Police investigator Xavier March investigates the death in a world where the cold war is between the US and the Third Reich.
In this dystopia the father of JFK, Joseph Kennedy is the US President. Britain has surrendered to Germany and Edward VIII is restored as king with Wallis his queen. Winston Churchill, King George VI and Princess Elizabeth have all fled to exile in Canada.
With the help of an American journalist and love interest Charlotte “Charlie” Maguire, March delves deeper into the case and they discover other suspicious murders in the Reich.
They conclude that each victim was involved in the Wansee Conference, (a real event in our world), where the Nazis formulated the Final Solution. This was the Nazi attempt to exterminate the world's Jewish population.
In Fatherland the world knows nothing of the Holocaust and March realises the deaths are an attempt by the Reich to keep it that way.
This best-selling novel is a rollicking read and will be thrilling for anyone with an interest in World War2 and the many ways it could have played out.
Harris, Robert. Fatherland, London: Arrow Books, 2009.
References:
Books in Print Professional Reviews
Robert Harris' Website
Goodreads Reader Reviews
