Mr. Norris Changes Trains

First published in 1935, this novel is narrated by William Bradshaw, who meets the nervous, wig-wearing Arthur Norris in a railway compartment on the way to Berlin. In the last years of Weimar, Bradshaw is drawn into Norris's world of shady commerce, Communist meetings, and a private life of masochism and blackmail, while brownshirts gather in the streets. Baron Pregnitz, the secretary Schmidt, and the landlady Fraulein Schroeder belong to the same boarding-house and cafe circle. Norris's charm and panic keep forcing Bradshaw to choose between loyalty and self-preservation. The book is a political and personal comedy of Berlin before the Nazi seizure of power.

Bound in yellow cloth with a repeat wrap-around pattern in grey. Dark brown endleaves. Brown page tops. Dark brown slipcase.