Ferdinand, the Man with the Kind Heart
  • Published: 3 December 2020
  • ISBN: 9780141992600
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 192

Ferdinand, the Man with the Kind Heart

Formats & editions
Paperback
1 Jun 2021
EBook
3 Dec 2020
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Newly translated by Michael Hofmann, this is the funny and touching final novel from the author of Child of All Nations

Bombed-out Cologne after the war is a strange place to be. The black market in jam and corsets is booming, half-destroyed houses offer opportunities for stealing doors and eggcups, and de-Nazification parties are all the rage. Recently released from a prisoner-of-war camp, Ferdinand drifts around the city, strenuously avoiding his fiancée and drinking brandy with his fabulous cousin. But is this any way to go on?

Told with Keun's characteristic humour, irony and generosity of spirit, this is a wry portrait of a man, a city and a nation that asks how we go on living even in the face of total defeat.
  • Published: 3 December 2020
  • ISBN: 9780141992600
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 192
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Also by Irmgard Keun

After Midnight
Gilgi, One of Us
The Artificial Silk Girl
Gilgi
Child of All Nations
See all

Praise for Ferdinand, the Man with the Kind Heart

Nothing short of a revelation ... I am still haunted by it 'Praise for Child of All Nations'

Evening Standard

The overwhelming power of Keun's work lies in her surprisingly raw, witty, and resonant feminine voices

Bookslut

I cannot think of anything else that conjures up so powerfully the atmosphere of a nation turned insane 'Praise for After Midnight'

Sunday Telegraph