★《裴少校的最後一戰》作者Helen Simonson盛情推薦

詩人Ursula Werner寫作的首部小說《The Good at Heart》根據作者曾祖父的真實經歷改編，描述二戰期間，德瑞邊境優美恬靜的村落裡，一戶平凡德國人家在短短三天經歷的天人交戰。書名呼應的正是安妮．法蘭克（Ann Frank）在最後一篇日記裡對於人性本善的信念。

第二次世界大戰爆發後，奧斯卡與伊蒂絲．艾伯哈特夫婦帶著女兒瑪麗娜、女婿佛朗茲與外孫女們，舉家遷離動盪的柏林，來到近瑞士邊界的寧靜小村莊布盧門塔爾，住進一棟小屋。奧斯卡是希特勒政府官員，大部份時間都不在家，佛朗茲則赴前線征戰，家裡剩下女人在優美如詩的田園中生活。

然而小鎮並不如表面上歲月靜好，遠離紛擾。一位自負的納粹上校獲派守衛居民，最後卻槍殺無辜；鄰居之間互相監視猜忌；有些人甚至神秘失蹤；戰火已然延燒到門前。所幸，艾伯哈特家的友人沃爾夫將軍適時幫忙重建了小鎮的秩序。沃爾夫將軍在一戰時失去家人，艾伯哈特家接納了他，伊蒂絲將他視如己出，只是瑪麗娜與沃爾夫的感情超出了兄妹的關係……

瑪麗娜對第三帝國的憎惡，使她決定加入約翰牧師援救猶太難民到瑞士邊境的秘密行動。瑪麗娜、鎮長等人這次要護送的「包裹」是兩名失去家人的波蘭女孩，瑪麗娜一時未多加思考，便決定暫時將孩子藏在自家地下室。計畫順利進行，直到奧斯卡返家捎來一件大消息：布盧門塔爾附近將舉行音樂會，希特勒不但將親臨現場，還要拜訪艾伯哈特家！

於是護送「包裹」的任務，變得萬分緊迫複雜起來……

《The Good at Heart》是一部扣人心弦的新人小說，細膩描繪一個在對國家、良心正義、與所愛之人的責任之間煎熬拉扯的家庭，交織著愛、悲劇與揪心的懸念。

 

Ursula Werner is a writer and attorney currently living in Washington, DC, with her family. Born in Germany and raised in South Florida, she has practiced law while continuing her creative writing, publishing two books of poetry, In the Silence of the Woodruff (2006) and Rapunzel Revisited (2010). The Good at Heart is her first novel.

 

“In this delightfully written debut, the Eberhardt women, Edith and Marina, work tirelessly to protect their children from war in the bucolic German countryside. But nothing can protect them from the fact that they are Nazis. With Grandpa Oskar about to bring the Fuhrer to visit, tension rises and there will be a price to pay for the denial, the guilt and the sometimes impossible choice between family and morality.” (Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Summer Before the War)