The Mare: The masterful and haunting Holocaust novel, based on a true story

Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize 2025

The knock on the door changed everything. Until then, we were happy; we knew who we were. ‘You’ve got the wrong person,’ I told him. ‘My wife is gentle and kind. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.’

In 1939, when she was just nineteen years old, Hermine Braunsteiner applied for a job in a new prison opening near her home. She had heard the pay was better than working on the factory line. The prison was called Ravensbrück.

A few months later, the Second World Wa...