Working as a news photographer in 1930s Berlin, Walther Klinger becomes, by a vicious twist of fate, a society photographer for the new aristocracy of the Nazi party. Walther's complicity makes him increasingly cynical and guilty, so that, for him, the coming of the war is almost a relief. 'Absorbing ... an eminently successful cautionary tale about the function and possible dangerous malfunctions of Art.' Patrick Skene Catling, Spectator 'A persuasive tale of sex and Nazism (love and its negation), as well as an intriguing argument about the adequacy of images to carry the truth of what they portray ... Palmer painstakingly reveals a sadly cruel and believable vision.' Tom Deveson, Sunday Times 'William Palmer's excellent fourth novel ... is an impressive study of the effect of totalitarianism on the average emotional life.' D. J. Taylor, Independent