Dancing at the End of the World - by Michelle Sacks

Book Synopsis

Dancing at the End of the World is a sprawling collection of connected stories and lives that span a century of Berlin's rich and complicated history.

Beginning in 1933 amidst the rumblings of fascism and the demise of the Weimar Republic, and concluding in the fraught social and political climate of the present day, the collection weaves seamlessly through the defining years of the iconic city.

From the first story, we are introduced to Klara von Arnsberg, the aristocratic daughter of a famed industrialist, whose fierce instinct for both survival and reinvention is a mirror for that of Berlin itself. The life--or rather, many lives--that Klara builds for herself over the decades to come, are ever entangled with the fate of the city as we bear witness to the Holocaust, the post-war years, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the ensuing years of dramatic transformation.

As we move through the decades of the twentieth and twenty-first century, Klara is ever-present in the stories and the characters we encounter: Turkish guest workers in the 1960s and Syrian refugees in the twenty-first century, frustrated housewives in the new Berlin of money and rampant gentrification, Cold War Berliners hardened by unimaginable cruelty, expats in search of themselves, tech entrepreneurs who dream of immortality, and the lost children of the cultural revolution. All are linked to Klara, to her desires and fears, her greatest love, and the ultimate fate of both her legacy and the country itself.

Review Quotes

"In Dancing at the End of the World, Michelle Sacks brings to life the grit and ruin of 20th century Berlin through the story of Klara and Max. Female empowerment, family intrigue, and timeless romance make for a heady tale, set against the backdrop of an iconic city as real and alive as any character in the book. Sacks takes readers behind some of the most famous moments in modern history through the lens of those who lived it and compels readers to ask what they would have done. Brava!"
--Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of Last Twilight in Paris

"Dancing at the End of the World begins with a gripping story of two sisters struggling to forget an unspeakable horror in postwar Berlin, a loveless city where survival, love, and lust intertwine with painful intricacy. The characters introduced throughout the novel, spanning from the aftermath of the war to modern times, are all broken and scarred, like the bereft city itself, still trying to loosen the grip of its ghosts. The writing sparkles. Each sentence glimmers with delicate, feather-light prose, yet beneath its beauty lies a moving story that lingers long after the final page. A haunting novel of war and the devastating legacy it refuses to relinquish."
--Weina Dai Randel, the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Master Jeweler

"With a deft touch, Michelle Sacks hurtles through a century of life and heartbreak in Berlin, attuned to the pull of the past and the mystery of family as it ripples across the generations. A masterful portrait of a frayed, protean city held together by loss and hope."
--Peter Mann, author of World Pacific and The Torqued Man

"Dancing at the End of the World is a powerful, beautifully written novel that illuminates the history of Berlin from its postwar rubble and ruin to its rebirth as a modern technological and industrial marvel. Standing at the middle of this turbulent history is Klara van Arnsberg. Klara 'cares little for the opinions of others, ' a quality that will save her life. To protect her father, Klara marries a brutal Nazi, conducts an affair with Max, a Jew hiding in Berlin from the Nazis, and finally escapes her marriage. In the end, Klara rescues her family's home, factories, and fortune, and, like Berlin itself, prospers in ways that her family never would have dreamed. Michelle Sacks has crafted a story of survival, sacrifice, and redemption that will stay with readers long after they have read the final page of this dazzling work."
--Peter Golden, author of Their Shadows Deep

About the Author

Michelle Sacks is the author of the novels, You Were Made for This (Little, Brown and Company, 2018) and All the Lost Things (Little, Brown and Company, 2019) and the short story collection, Stone Baby (Northwestern University Press, 2017). Her work has been translated into eight languages and has appeared in Electric Literature, Literary Hub, and Michigan Quarterly Review. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa.