The Border

by Elaine Feinstein

This a story about decisions, and the difficulty making them, as Hitler's power spreads across Europe. It is told through linked diaries, letters, interviews and poems, which portrary the three main characters as they pursue their own love story to its end. Across their obsessions, the figure of Walter Benjamin, first in Paris, then at the Spanish border, adds a poignant dimension to their hopes and fears.

Genres: Fiction

113 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2000

About the author

Elaine Feinstein was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leicester. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as an editor for Cambridge University Press (1960-62), as Lecturer in English at Bishop's Stortford Training College (1963-6), as Assistant Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Essex (1967-70), and as a journalist.

She has contributed to many periodicals, including the Times Literary Supplement, and was formerly Writer in Residence for the British Council in Singapore and Tromsø, Norway.

Of Russian-Jewish ancestry, she has been influenced by Russian writers, especially Marina Tsvetayeva and Anna Akhmatova.

She is the author of a number of plays for television and radio and several biographies, including singer Bessie Smith, writer D. H. Lawrence, Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and Anna Akhmatova.

Reviews

[Jane Metter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evocative, haunting and sparse - loved it!