Winnie and Wolf
A Novel
A. N. Wilson
- Winnie
- and
- Wolf
- is
- the
- story
- of
- the
- remarkable
- relationship
- between
- Winifred
- Wagner
- and
- Adolf
- Hitler
- that
- took
- place
- during
- the
- years
- between
- the
- two
- world
- wars,
- as
- seen
- through
- the
- eyes
- of
- the
- secretary
- at
- the
- Wagner
- House
- in
- Bayreuth.Winifred,
- an
- English
- girl,
- was
- brought
- up
- in
- an
- orphanage
- and
- married
- at
- the
- age
- of
- eighteen
- to
- the
- son
- of
- Germany's
- most
- controversial
- genius.
- She
- is
- a
- passionate
- Germanophile,
- a
- Wagnerian
- dreamer,
- and
- a
- Teutonic
- patriot.
- In
- the
- debacle
- of
- the
- post-Versailles
- world,
- the
- Wagner
- family
- hopes
- for
- the
- coming
- of
- a
- Parsifal,
- a
- mystic
- idealist
- and
- redeemer.
- In
- 1923,
- they
- meet
- their
- Parsifal-a
- wild-eyed
- Viennese
- opera
- fanatic
- named
- Adolf
- Hitler.
- He
- has
- already
- made
- a
- name
- for
- himself
- in
- some
- sections
- of
- German
- society
- through
- rabble-rousing
- and
- street-corner
- speeches.
- It
- is
- Winifred,
- though,
- who
- truly
- believes
- in
- him.
- Both
- have
- known
- the
- humiliation
- of
- poverty
- and
- a
- deep
- anger
- at
- the
- society
- that
- excluded
- them.
- They
- find
- in
- each
- other
- an
- unusual
- kinship
- that
- begins
- with
- a
- passion
- for
- opera.In
- A.
- N.
- Wilson's
- boldest
- and
- most
- ambitious
- novel
- yet,
- the
- world
- of
- the
- Weimar
- Republic
- and
- Nazi
- Germany
- is
- brilliantly
- recreated,
- and
- forms
- the
- backdrop
- to
- this
- incredible
- bond,
- which
- ultimately
- reveals
- the
- remarkable
- capacity
- of
- human
- beings
- to
- deceive themselves.
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