Wunderland

USA TODAY BESTSELLER • "Searing . . . a heartbreaking page-turner."-People (Book of the Week)

An intimate portrait of a friendship severed by history, and a sweeping saga of wartime, motherhood, and legacy by an award-winning novelist

East Village, 1989
Things had never been easy between Ava Fisher and her estranged mother Ilse. Too many questions hovered between them: Who was Ava's father? Where had Ilse been during the war? Why had she left her only child in a German orphanage during the war's final months? But now Ilse's ashes have arrived from Germany, and with them, a trove of unsent letters addressed to someone else unknown to Ava: Renate Bauer, a childhood friend. As her mother's letters unfurl a dark past, Ava spirals deep into the shocking history of a woman she never truly knew.

Berlin, 1933
As the Nazi party tightens its grip on the city, Ilse and Renate find their friendship under siege-and Ilse's increasing involvement in the Hitler Youth movement leaves them on opposing sides of the gathering storm. Then the Nuremburg Laws force Renate to confront a long-buried past, and a catastrophic betrayal is set in motion. . . .

An unflinching exploration of Nazi Germany and its legacy, Wunderland is at once a powerful portrait of an unspeakable crime history and a page-turning contemplation of womanhood, wartime, and just how far we might go in order to belong.

Praise for Wunderland

"Engrossing . . . Epstein reveals the devastating choices these women make."-Real Simple

"Wunderland is both an engrossing family drama and a foray into a dark period of history . . . a wholly original angle to the WWII novel. You'll read it in one shivered sitting."-Refinery29

"A vividly written and stark chronicle of Nazism and its legacies."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A wealth of history turns Wunderland into a novel that's both beautiful and devastating. . . . Epstein taps into the 1930s prewar era, laying out an unsparing narrative that details tragic events and horrifying legacies . . . opening a new door that may lead to redemption and joy for future generations."-BookPage (starred review)

"[A] heartbreaking historical tour de force . . . Man's inhumanity to man-and the redemptive power of forgiveness-is on stark and effective display in Epstein's gripping novel, a devastating tale bound for bestseller lists."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)