The Seventh Gate A Novel

A girl on the brink of adulthood. A city on the brink of war. “An intelligent and moving novel about the heartbreaking human condition” (Alberto Manguel, author of The Library at Night). It’s Berlin, 1932. Sophie is a smart and sexually precocious fourteen-year-old coming of age during Hitler’s rise to power. Forced to lead a double life when her father and her boyfriend become Nazi collaborators, she reserves her dreams of becoming an actress for her beloved elderly neighbor, Isaac Zarco, and his friends, most of whom are Jews working against the government in a secret group called the Ring. When a member is sent to Dachau, she realizes there must be a Nazi traitor in the group . . . Through successive mysteries, reversals, and surprises—and a race against time—The Seventh Gate builds to a shattering end. In its chilling but sensuous evocation of the time and place, Richard Zimler’s novel is a love story and a tale of ferocious heroism. “A moody, tightly constructed historical thriller that is both entertaining and instructive.” —The New York Times “Explosive and prophetic.” —Newsday “Mixing profound reflections on Jewish mysticism with scenes of elemental yet always tender sensuality, Zimler captures the Nazi era in the most human of terms, devoid of sentimentality but throbbing with life lived passionately in the midst of horror.” —Booklist (starred review) “Zimler excellently captures the gamut of tumultuous emotions in his intense and detailed portrait of a city destined for war, and his exceptionally drawn characters struggling to survive in a world gone mad make for an unforgettable story.” —Library Journal (starred review)