natalia pastukhova The East German Police Girl

[Mister Hobgoblin]

This is a novel set in a small town in East Germany in the 1950s. The border is not exactly open, but still quite porous. The people are finding their places in a new Soviet society, pretending not to remember that only a decade ago they were embracing fascism. It is an interesting time.

 

The story centres around Uta, a young woman who is an officer in the border police - apparently a step up from the regular police but a step below the special police from Berlin. Uta is loyal but pragmatic; keeping the local peace is more important than slavish adherence to an ideology that few seem to believe in. But the local police is shattered when two agents from Berlin arrive on a secret mission. The tale that unfolds is one of sedition, corruption and greed. 

 

There is clearly a good story in here, but the writing did not quite do it justice. The phrasing was stilted; the dialogue did not ring true, and too many of the characters were hard to tell apart. Sometimes their motivation was not clear, even when the plot was revealed. And the denouement felt like a bit of a damp squib. 

 

I wish the novel, and especially the setting, could have been given a bit of a polish to make it sparkle.