Reunion by Fred Uhlman Book Review., 09 Jun 2008

This isn't so much a novel as a novella, and a brief one at that being just 93 small pages in length. But don't let that put you off for this is a superb read.

It opens in 1930's Germany in a smart senior school where 15/16 year old boys, young men, are making friends, ostensibly for life. How were they to know that so many lives would be cut so tragically short?

After a hesitant beginning the shy Hans Schwarz becomes pals with the more confident and aristocratic Konradin. Hans comes from a Jewish background and that factor eventually invades their friendship.

This period of history has been chronicled a million times, and rightly so for there are lessons there that resonate down to the present day. All the characters are sharply drawn and memorable and for the most part, decent human beings. So where did it all go so wrong?

The book also contains a two page introduction written by the late and much missed Arthur Koestler, and that is well worth reading on its own.

Reunion is beautifully written and easy to read, and this is certainly a book for anyone who can't abide the huge tomes that so often dominate the bookstores. It isn't a new book either, but don't let that put you off because it is a very memorable one, and a story that lives long in the memory.

Jeffrey Archer wrote of Reunion: "I wish I had written this". He certainly is not alone in that, not least from your correspondent.

Reunion is published by Fontana books on ISBN: 0006151647 and is available from most internet bookstalls.


A remarkable story, 10 Dec 2003
This is an admirable little book because it combines two adventures of unequal weight: an adolescent friendship and the rise of Nazism. Charming young Conrad von Hohenfels befriends the narrator, Hans Schwarz, son of a Jewish doctor and grandson of a rabbi. Young Schwarz is dazzled by the aura that surrounds the Hohenfels, and his friendship with Conrad takes a passionate turn, described by Fred Uhlman with exquisite tact. It's the beautiful story of adolescence and friendship between two boys whom History separates and ultimately destroys because Hitler is about to seize power.

A book about friendship, 07 May 2000
This is a marvellous book about friendship and about often is idealized by young people. It is written beautifully and I loved the characters and felt so close to them.

One of the best books about friendship., 07 Oct 1999
Reunion is a wonderfully written, short book about friendship. It describes it from the point of view of one of the protagonist (Reunion is followed up by a companion book written from the point of view of the other protagonist). It is an ideal reading if you had a friend, either in reality or just the desire, as well as an ideal gift.