Press Reviews
Arundhati Roy
This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it
Antony Beevor
One of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat
- Arundhati Roy, author of The Good of Small Things
This is a devastating book. It is matter-of-fact, makes no attempt to score political points, does not attempt to solicit sympathy for its protagonist and yet is among the most chilling indictments of war I have ever read. Everybody, in particular every woman ought to read it.
- Kirkus Reviews
Complex, closely observed diary by a woman living in conquered Berlin at the end of WWII.
- Los Angeles Times
Let Anonymous stand witness as she wished to: as an undistorted voice for all women in war and its aftermath, whatever their names or nation or ethnicity. Anywhere.
- Entertainment Weekly
An astonishing record of survival . . . the voice of Anonymous emerges as both shrewd and funny . . . a fresh contribution to the literature of war.
- The New York Observer
A riveting account of a military atrocity . . . The author doesn't try to explain or moralize the horror. She simply records it as perhaps no one else has, in all of its devastating essence.
David Hare
The GuardianA stunning account of a German woman's battle to survive repeated rape at the hands of the victors among the ruins of Berlin . . . While leaders plot their dreams of glory and victory, the lives of ordinary people--on all sides--are trampled and destroyed. A most salutary work.
- Publishers Weekly
The author has a fierce, uncompromising voice, and her book should become a classic of war literature.
- Daily Mail
Marvelous . . . As it is a human instinct to survive, this book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit.
- The Daily Telegraph
Coolly written, tearingly honest . . . This is a classic not only of war literature but also of writing at the very extreme of human suffering.
Robert Sandhill
This is not an hysterical woman ... you simply cannot dismiss it ... profoundly, acutely embarrassing ... an insight into the resilience of people in an unknowable situation
- Kirkus Reviews
Complex, closely observed diary by a woman living in conquered Berlin at the end of WWII
- Los Angeles Times
Let Anonymous stand witness as she wished to: as an undistorted voice for all women in war and its aftermath, whatever their names or nation or ethnicity. Anywhere
- Entertainment Weekly
An astonishing record of survival . . . the voice of Anonymous emerges as both shrewd and funny . . . a fresh contribution to the literature of war
David Hare
GuardianA stunning account of a German woman's battle to survive repeated rape at the hands of the victors among the ruins of Berlin . . . While leaders plot their dreams of glory and victory, the lives of ordinary people--on all sides--are trampled and destroyed. A most salutary work
- Publishers Weekly
The author has a fierce, uncompromising voice, and her book should become a classic of war literature
- Daily Mail
Marvelous . . . As it is a human instinct to survive, this book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit
- Daily Telegraph
Coolly written, tearingly honest . . . This is a classic not only of war literature but also of writing at the very extreme of human suffering