The Notebook Trilogy

Claus and Lucas are twins. Their new life begins when they are left with their grandmother, the 'Witch', in a village in an occupied country. It's wartime. Their angelic looks are deceiving. They are implacable, dangerously ethical; what motivates them is a deeply embedded morality of absolute need.

The trilogy—The Notebook, The Proof and The Third Lie—follows their stories from the Second World War, through the years of communism and into a fractured Europe. In what could be seen as an allegory of post-war Europe, the twins become separated and are isolated in different countries. They yearn to be connected again, but perspectives shift, memories diverge, identity becomes unstable.

Written in Kristof 's spare, direct style, The Notebook Trilogy is an exploration of the aftereffects of trauma, particularly on children, and of the nature of storytelling. In the tradition of J.M. Coetzee or Herta Muller, these novels explore truth and lies, shaped by a breathtaking artistic vision that is shocking, fascinating and utterly memorable.

This edition contains The Notebook, translated by Alan Sheridan, The Proof, translated by David Watson and The Third Lie, translated by Marc Romano

‘A haunting, harrowing tale that lingers in the imagination long after you've turned the last page.’ Washington Post

‘In prose stripped to a bare yet powerful structure, this intense parable reveals the triumph of literature in a politically repressive state.’ Booklist

‘Closing this chillingly unsentimental novel, I felt that it had contrived to say absolutely everything about the Second World War and its aftermath in Central Europe.’ Sunday Times

‘An extraordinarily powerful work: taut, disciplined, laconic and profoundly unsettling…In The Notebook Trilogy Kristof achieved notable originality.’ Age