'The Uncommon Life of Alfred Warner in Six Days' by Juliet Conlin

Published by Black & White Publishing,
23 February 2017.
ISBN 978-1-78530-082-0

Alfred is an elderly German whose rich and eventful life has ended in a Care Home in England.  In 2005, he decides to visit Germany before he dies to see his recently discovered granddaughter, Brynja, in Berlin.   Alfred is frail and knows that he has only 6 days to live; he wants to tell Brynja his life story before he dies.   This proves to be difficult to achieve.  

Alfred was born in the early 1920s.  Interpolated with references to his modern situation and snapshots of Brynia's life are lengthy descriptions of Alfred's life, beginning with his awakening to the realisation of his own strange abilities when he was 6 years old and living with his parents and siblings in a German country village.   His experiences in Germany, then in Scotland and England are vividly described as he fights in the German army, becomes a prisoner of war and then settles in Britain.  He remains an innocent hero in many ways buffeted to and fro by Fate.

This is an enjoyable tale indeed as Alfred's life unfolds and we see those he has touched en route.  It is not a crime story but  a heart-warming memoir of a life.

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Reviewer: Jennifer S. Palmer

Juliet Conlin has written another novel The Fractured Man.

Juliet Conlin was born in London and grew up in England and Germany. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Durham. She works as a writer and translator and lives with her husband and four children in Berlin. She writes in both English and German. Her novels include The Fractured Man published 2013 and The Uncommon Life of Alfred Warner in Six Days

http://julietconlin.com/

Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.