Review: Olga

I loved The Reader. But I’ve found Schlink’s subsequent novels disappointing. Olga has moments that shine, but on the whole I found it a sad story about a woman who wasted her love on a man who didn’t return it in kind. She just kept making excuses for his selfishness, and waited for him, and waited for him, and waited for him!
The blurb promotes their love as ‘a love against all odds’, but it wasn’t really a love story at all. In fact, it could be seen as a cautionary tale to women not to waste their lives, and their love, on a man who is narcissistic and unable to return their love.

• Review
• Bernhard Schlink