Discover the Novels Behind the Summer's New Movie Releases
Wonderful movies are on the way this summer. Take time to enjoy the books that inspired them—from the comfort of your own home.
By Mark Athitakis
By Melanie Joosten
256 pages; Scribe Publications
In Berlin Syndrome, opening May 26, Clare is a young Australian photographer visiting Berlin and hoping to find herself. Instead, she has the bad luck of finding Andi, a seemingly charming local who keeps her at his place for a night—and then keeps on keeping her, locking the doors and windows and refusing to set her free. Onscreen, the film is designed as a heart-pounding captivity narrative, with Andi as the hard-eyed sociopath, and Joosten's 2011 debut novel takes a similar approach. However, by alternating the narrative between Clare and Andi's heads, we get a dense and harrowing interior portrait of both of their motivations, from family drama to German political upheaval, underscoring her submission and his descent into madness.
256 pages; Scribe Publications
In Berlin Syndrome, opening May 26, Clare is a young Australian photographer visiting Berlin and hoping to find herself. Instead, she has the bad luck of finding Andi, a seemingly charming local who keeps her at his place for a night—and then keeps on keeping her, locking the doors and windows and refusing to set her free. Onscreen, the film is designed as a heart-pounding captivity narrative, with Andi as the hard-eyed sociopath, and Joosten's 2011 debut novel takes a similar approach. However, by alternating the narrative between Clare and Andi's heads, we get a dense and harrowing interior portrait of both of their motivations, from family drama to German political upheaval, underscoring her submission and his descent into madness.
Published 05/24/2017