The Truth about Sascha Knisch

The Truth about Sascha Knisch by Aris Fioretos [Jonathan Cape, London] R 175

Berlin. 1928. Who murdered Dora? Dora pushes Sascha, her toy boy, into the bedroom’s cupboard to hide, as an unannounced visitor arrives. Sascha has to listen with baited breath to the sounds of mysterious rumblings. Emerging from Dora’s cupboard, he found her stretched out on her bed, dead. He panics, fleeing the scene.

Aris Fioretos, a painter of eroticism, recalls Turner’s subtleties of impressions. He creates ongoing suspense through the dark personality of Anton, one-legged Else and her self-taught piano-playing son. We discover the series of ever changing subplots, charge-up tension and vice.

Can Sascha find the proof of his innocence and at the same time clear Dora’s name? The identity of the killer keeps the reader guessing until the final page.

Zoltan Galos 
Rating: 3.5 / 5