# Novels set in Germany, originally written in English, not about WWII or Cold War?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806 "2006-11-10T02:14:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/1 "2006-11-10T02:14:15Z")
For some reason my friend needs to find at least three books matching the title description, but she can’t find any. I’m wracking my brain trying to come up with something, but I’m stumped too. Any? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/2 "2006-11-10T02:15:42Z")
Oh, and no WWI settings either – basically, no war, no horrors. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/3 "2006-11-10T03:28:32Z")
**The Last of Mr. Norris** and **Goodbye to Berlin** by Christopher Isherwood, both set in Berlin between WWI and WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/4 "2006-11-10T06:48:30Z")
[The Book of Earth](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Earth-Dragon-Quartet/dp/0886775744/) by Marjorie B. Kellogg is set in 10th-century Germany. The first book in a four-book series, it’s one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read. Might not be what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/5 "2006-11-10T07:12:22Z")
A number of Cold War spy novels are set in Germany; for example, Frederick Forsyth’s _The Odessa File_, Henry Porter’s _Brandenburg Gate_, and John le Carre’s _Absolute Friends_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/6 "2006-11-10T07:20:34Z")
Ah, finally I found a novel that doesn’t take place during the Cold War: _City of Shadows_, by Ariana Franklin (the pseudonym of a British historical fiction writer), set in 1922. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/7 "2006-11-10T07:28:55Z")
Wow, you guys are great! I was completely stumped on this one, but you guys came through. Thanks, and keep 'em coming! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/8 "2006-11-10T08:07:51Z")
• Thomas Carlyle, _[Sartor Resartus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sartor_Resartus)_. • W.H. Harrison, _Waldemar_. • Theodore S. Fay, _Countess Ida: A Tale of Berlin_. • G.P.R. James, _Heidelberg: A Romance_. • Elizabeth Rundle Charles, _Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family_ (historical fiction about Martin Luther and the Reformation). • Adelheid Shelton-Mackenzie, _Aureola; or, The Black Sheep_. • Mrs. E. D. Wallace, _Strife: A Romance of Germany and Italy_. • Emma Leslie, _Margarethe: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century_ (more historical fiction about Martin Luther and the Reformation). • Albert Morris Bagby, _Miss Träumerei: A Weimar Idyl_. • Felicia Buttz Clark, _Schwester Anna: A Tale of German Home Life_. • Felicia Buttz Clark, _The Cripple of Nuremberg_. • Cyrus Townsend Brady, _Hohenzollern: A Story of the Time of Frederick Barbarossa_. • William Stearns Davis, _The Friar of Wittenberg_ (more Martin Luther). • Trevor Scott, _The Dawn of Midnight_. • Daisy Newman, _Sperli the Clockmaker_. • Esther Meynell, _Time’s Door_ (historical fiction about the Bach family of composers). ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/9 "2006-11-10T08:40:29Z")
Parts of _Frankenstein_? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/10 "2006-11-10T09:51:21Z")
You’re going to have a problem finding novels that don’t mention the cold war between '45 and '89 as it fairly dominated the country. _The Boy Who Followed Ripley_ is the fourth book of Patricia Highsmith’s excellent ‘Ripliad’ :rolleyes: and much of it takes place in West Berlin in the late '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-set-in-germany-originally-written-in-english-not-about-wwii-or-cold-war/379806/11 "2006-11-10T10:19:33Z")
Another John le Carré spy novel :- _A Small Town in Germany_ (set in Bonn when it was still the federal capital)