Christine Leunens was born in the USA, studied at Harvard, worked in Europe (including as a fashion model for Paco Rabanne, Givenchy, Nina Ricci), lives in New Zealand. She is the author of three novels, translated into 16 languages. “A brilliant addition to the line started by such masterpieces as The Book Thief, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” My Weekly magazine wrote about The Caged Bird. The Historical Novel Society newsletter was also generous in its praise: “A novel of rare power, depth and emotional uncompromisingness. Leunens fundamentally refuses to smooth out rough edges. Her chamber drama, in Tolstoy’s style, contains the quintessence of an entire era.” So, meet Johannes Betzler, a native of Vienna, born in 1927. After the Anschluss, when Austria became part of Nazi Germany, he first joined the Jungvolk, then the Hitler Youth, and with the outbreak of the war he supplied shells to anti-aircraft gunners. So, imagine his shock when he finds out that his parents are hiding a Jewish girl at home... In January 2020, the film version of “The Caged Bird” (starring Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Stephen Merchant, Thomasin McKenzie) will be released worldwide. The film has already received the Grand Prix at the Toronto Film Festival and two The Hollywood Film Awards - for best cinematography and best scenery, and was also nominated for the Hollywood Film Critics Association Award in four categories. For the first time in Russian!