Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Reader

The Reader
reviewed on + 31 more book reviews


When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen year old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover. She enthralls him with her passion, but puzzles him with her odd silences. Then she inexplicably disappears.
When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student and Hanna is on trial for a hideous crime. But as he watches her refuse to defend herself, Michael gradually realizes that his former lover may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.