The Blind Side of the Heart - Julia Franck

Julia Franck's The Blind Side of the Heart (Die Mittagsfrau) tells the story of a young woman growing up during the turbulent times of the first half of the 20th century. The novel was first published in German in 2007 and won the prestigious German Book Prize. The book narrates a story of growing up without a loving and caring mother, of unfulfilled dreams and of a tragic love against the background of two world wars.

The novel, which is inspired by the biographical background of Franck's father, tells the story of Helene Würsich. She grows up in the Saxon town Bautzen during the First World War together with her older sister, her Jewish mother, her father and their maid. After the death of her father, Helene moves to Berlin where she spends her teenage years during the roaring twenties. After the tragic death of her first love, she enters into an unhappy marriage and moves to Stettin where she waits for the Second World War to end.

The main topic of the novel is the mother-child relationship firstly between Helene and her mother and secondly between Helene and her son. As a younger sister, Helene grows up with a mother who is disappointed that Helene is not the long awaited son and therefore is incapable of loving her daughter. The young girl has to learn to live with her mother's angry outbursts and being ignored by her. Helene starts to worry that she will become like her mother and be incapable of love. When she falls in love with a student in Berlin, it seems that her fear was unfounded. But after his tragic death, her world collapses and she agrees to marry a man, who sympathises with the Nazis but helps her to survive the Holocaust. Unhappily married, Helene cannot love neither him nor their son whom she abandons on a train station at the end of the war.

The whole story is led by the historical background of the First World War, the roaring twenties, the rising nationalism and anti-Semitism and the Second World War. The reader is introduced to Helene's everyday life during these difficult times and gets a realistic impression of her daily challenges. Her emotional state seems to fall and rise with the high and low points of the history.

Franck also takes up the issue of the problematic role of women during that time. Helene's parents refuse to send her to a secondary school and her dream of studying medicine and becoming a doctor remains unfulfilled. During her marriage her husband expects her to play the traditional role of a housewife, a role that she has difficulties to fulfil. With her dreams and lifestyle she is clearly ahead of her time.

The novel starts with an extraordinary captivating prologue, but then misses to maintain the tension. The approx. first 100 pages are rather dull, but the reader who keeps on reading will be rewarded. The narrative regains its tension and the reader gets drawn back into the novel. The story is presented in a clean, detached and neutral language that leaves any interpretation up to the reader and focuses on presenting the events.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the 20th century, especially in German history, and to anyone who likes literary fiction. I really enjoyed reading the novel and gained new insights into that brilliantly presented historical background.


UK: Julia Franck: The Blind Side of the Heart, Vintage, 2009 
DE: Julia Franck: Die Mittagsfrau, FISCHER Taschenbuch, 2009