Painful but full of humanity

Without spoilers this is a combination of two perspectives: coming of age in small town Austria, including the grotesque Krampus tradition; and the end of the second world war as experienced by country women and children. It is disturbing and at times painful to read but sensitively written and full of humanity. To those (Amazon reviewers) who thought it was too nasty, I would say this: the characters, and the behaviour described, are realistic; Krampus was like that. If you want a feel-good read, where the warmth of human nature is put on a plate and nicely chopped up for you like sausages, perhaps you would do better to choose a book about something other than wartime.

4.5 stars for the novel, but it was ruined by the narration. I have listened to 250-odd books on audible and this is probably the worst narrator. She turns every comma into a full stop and frequently puts a full stop just before a verb. The result is bizarre. I don't understand how she could have thought it made sense, nor how the publisher failed to deal with it. Better to get it in paperback

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