All that I Am by Anna Funder

All that I Am is not an easy read. Many professional reviewers were also quite critical about Anne Funder’s historical novel, which she based on real people and events. Not being a book reviewer myself but rather a ‘book discusser’, I have to say that I found All that I Am a challenging yet interesting and eye-opening read about a time in pre-World War II Germany.

Made famous by her non-fiction international bestseller, Stasiland, in 2003, Anna Funder decided a few years later to give fiction writing a bash and produced, in what I consider a valiant first attempt, All that I Am.

The tale has two narrators as it recounts the story of a group of young intellectuals in 1939 Berlin during Hitler’s rise to power. One recounts the story through the memories of Ruth Wesemann Becker (based on the life of Ruth Blatt) who was married to the journalist, Hans Weseman and who, for the purposes of the novel, is pictured as the cousin of the young activist Dora Fabian. And the other narrates via a memoire left by Ernst Toller, a German left-wing playwright of that era and a fierce opponent of the Third Reich.

Funder paints the historical facts with a rich cast of characters all with colourful lives and relationships. The group predicts and witnesses the brutality of the Nazis, and subsequently try everything in their power to stop them. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the pre-war artistic lifestyles in Berlin and the interesting people that made up the revolutionary group at the heart of the story.

Ruth tells the interesting story of her life as she becomes a student in Berlin and moves in with her beloved, outspoken and charismatic cousin Dora, who is totally committed to her quest – often at huge cost to herself and others – to oppose the Nazis. Ruth, quiet by comparison, is a gifted photographer and a constant observer. And yet she fails to see the ultimate betrayal that lies in store for her.

Toller narrates from his hotel room in New York in 1939, with Europe on the cusp of World War II. He finds himself alone and disillusioned as he realises that neither his writing nor his passionate speeches – nor the brave actions of his fellow activists – are enough to move the world against Hitler.

Reading the story of these long-forgotten heroes, I was swept along by the risks and sacrifices they made for their beliefs and the bravery and energy they displayed to follow their quest, no matter the consequences.

I found it a rewarding read.