A Shadow of Myself

by Peter Flamm, Simon Pare (Translator)

A vivid, hallucinatory rediscovered classic about split identity in the wake of First World War trauma
Hans, an esteemed surgeon, has just returned from the hellish battlefields of the First World War. But everything in his home feels alien, even his wife Grete. As he tries to regain a sense of normality, he is haunted by nightmarish visions and a profound sense of dissociation. Has the war turned him into someone else? Or has another man wormed his way into Hans's life?
Told in a feverish monologue, A Shadow of Myself is a vivid, hallucinatory immersion in an unsettled mind. First published in 1926 and rediscovered in Germany only last year, this lightning-bolt of a war classic is now appearing in English for the first time.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Germany, War

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 23, 2025

About the author

Peter Flamm, bürgerlich Erich Mosse, 1891 in Berlin geboren, begann schon während seines Medizinstudiums, in den Zeitungen seines Onkels Rudolf Mosse Feuilletons und kleinere Erzählungen zu veröffentlichen. 1926 sorgte sein psychologischer Debütroman »Ich?« bei S. Fischer für Furore. In den folgenden Jahren verfasste er neben seiner medizinischen Praxis drei weitere Romane, bis er als Jude 1933 mit seiner Frau Marianne aus Deutschland nach Paris und 1934 nach New York emigrieren musste. Dort ließ er sich als Psychiater nieder; sein berühmtester Patient war der Literaturnobelpreisträger William Faulkner, Berühmtheiten wie Albert Einstein und Charlie Chaplin gingen in seinem Haus ein und aus. 1963 starb er in New York.

Reviews

[Matthew Ted]

3.5. Originally published in 1926, this Heimkehrroman put me in the mind of Thomas Bernhard and Peter Handke. It plays with the idea of doppelgangers, but we are never quite sure whether the 'two' personalities in the story are real or not. Is the narrator shellshocked? Mad? Or is he truly harbouring two men, himself, and the identity of the man whose passport he takes? People seem to accept him as the 'second' person, even his wife; in fact, the only person who seems wary of him is the dog, Nero, which seems to be the clue to the novel. The dog's sixth sense.

It is written in long and feverish run-on sentences within equally long paragraphs. The narrator's attention hops from one thing to the next. Like Bernhard, it pays off to read it in concentrated bursts, to lower yourself into its confused and crazed visions.

Thanks to Pushkin Press for sending me an advance copy.

[Adrian K.]

How Flamm writes a scene:

1. Hans enters room
2. Dog bites him.
3. Woman starts to cry.
4. Rinse and repeat (10x).

All written in stream-of-consciousness. Brilliant!

[Cherish]

This one was a mind-bender. I absolutely loved this. Our MC returns to Germany from WWI and is convinced he has stolen the identity of a dead soldier he came across on the battlefield. It is a stream of consciousness, a very disturbed one at that. Expect disjointed, rambling sentences. We have a front row seat to the aftermath of his war experiences. During WWI, psychiatrists were just parsing out what PTSD was, and therapy was NOT encouraged for soldiers. I absolutely loved a book centered on mental health. There is no definitive answer to which man our MC really is, which I understand can be frustrating. But what a fascinating and sad character study. This is why republishing classics and translating books is so important. This particularly still resonates today, as we have stayed at war almost constantly since then. I would absolutely read more of this authors works. 3.5.

[Kiera]

4.5 stars

Really vivid and immersive, I find WWI literature to be some of the best books I’ve read and this is no exception.

[Lorena Maria]

A Shadow of Myself by Peter Flamm was a feverish, unforgettable novel that comes upon you like a deluge of rain. The story follows a man in the near aftermath of WWI and his is a mind completely razed, irrevocably changed due to the traumatic events of combat. It is immediately apparent our protagonist, Hans struggles with identity and perhaps has another alter. This novel reminded me deeply of the 1990 movie Jacob’s Ladder, another mind-bending story about a soldier experiencing great psychological trauma and much like the book, you wonder what is real up until the very end.

Flamm’s writing brings each scene to life. Though the lengthy sentences, combined with how fast-paced the story is, does make the reading experience a bit dizzying. Even so, this was a book that was difficult to put down. Perhaps I was admittedly captivated by Hans’ fraying mind.

The Looking Back section is also well worth the read, as it gives you an ample glimpse into Peter Flamm’s (Erich Mosse) life and mind. A Shadow of Myself is essential reading and breathes necessity. Even now, there are crops of wars, conflicts, and countless forms of violence all around the world and this book begs the reader to look at what such violence can do to a person and those around them in such intimate and sudden detail.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for this ARC!

[Donna Hale]

This novel, originally published in 1926 and recently rediscovered with the advent of the Ukraine and Russia War, is a psychological classic that explores themes of trauma and a fragmented sense of identity following the First World War.

The book is a vivid, hallucinatory story told in a feverish monologue, focusing on the themes of war trauma and dissociation. The protagonist of the story Hans, an esteemed surgeon, returns home from the hellish battlefields of the First World War. He finds that his home and even his wife, Grete, feel completely alien to him. He is haunted by nightmarish visions and a profound sense of disconnection from his former life.

Hans struggles with his identity, questioning whether the war has transformed him into a different person or if an imposter has somehow taken his place. The narrative immerses the reader in his unsettled and traumatized mind as he attempts, and largely fails, to regain a sense of normalcy.

The novel was published only eight years after the end of WWI, directly addressing the raw, unhealed psychological wounds of returning veterans. It explores themes of "shell shock" and dissociation (which would later be called PTSD) at a time when such conditions were often dismissed as "hysterical" in Germany and the rest of the world.

NOTE: I was unable to obtain a copy of this book in the US. I resorted to the UK to order and ship a copy to the US.

[Matt]

As Rachel Seiffert writes in the preface, 'who am I if my experiences have made me a stranger to myself?' is the novel's central question.

As an 'Heimkehrroman' (a book about a soldier's return home from war), the novel is written in one long monologue to reinforce the mental decay of the protagonist, Long sentences also mimic the same effect to the point readers are never quite sure where the boundary lies between what is concrete and what is imaginary.

Hans, an esteemed surgeon, returns from the trenches of WW1. He finds that his home and even his wife, Grete, feel completely alien to him, while haunted by nightmarish visions and a profound sense of disconnection from his pre-war life.

[Anna Tour]

Could be read in one breath. Amazing rythme and character building. Insights on the human subconscious, strong images and a plot twist.

[Lily]

It was just a bad rambly mess.

[Ashley]

3.5

[Victor]

3.5

[Frie Miuta]

If it were not for the translator's brief explanation of what's happening, I might not get it at all.