Darren Nebesar was nominated for the Allegra Johnson Prize in Fiction and the James Kirkwood Prize in Creative Writing. Her nonfiction has appeared in the Journal of International Law and Policy published by the University of California...
The Valkyrie is an historical fiction novel about a young woman who discovers that her father has led a double life as a Stasi East German spy during the Cold War. Anna does not want to believe the truth about her father, but when she finally confronts him about his secret past, she learns that her father led a double life, not out of an abiding belief in Communism, but to save the woman he loved. But now this decades-long deception may cost him the love of his only daughter. An exploration of remorse and forgiveness, the novel considers the consequences of legacy and inheritance and how our reinterpretation of the past is distorted by our own place in history. The novel examines the nature of guilt and conscience through the lens of hindsight, and what it means to love someone despite their moral failings. Spanning two generations and alternating between 1960-70s East Berlin and 1980-90s Sweden and Berlin, the story takes the reader on a journey into the meaning of identity, betrayal, and the cost of survival.
