When I picked up Fatherland by Robert Harris in the charity shop I found it and read the back, it really intrigued me. I’ve already read a Robert Harris in The Act of Oblivion and so he’s an author I know I’m a fan of and an author I know specialises in making his historical fiction novels as historically accurate as possible. So when I saw Fatherland was about an alternative history where Germany had won the second world war, I was very intrigued!
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As I said, Fatherland tells a story set in 1964, 20 years after Germany succeeded in their second world war attempts and have gone on to become a powerhouse across the world. They’re still at war with some people and have transformed other countries we know today into Germany-owned territories.
One day when a body turns up in a lake on the outskirts of Berlin, it begins the unravelling of a story that could topple the German government and reveal some of their darkest and deepest secrets.
Fatherland plot – 4/5
I found the story of Fatherland all a little underwhelming unfortunately. It started off quite slow but I allowed it time to build as the blurb had convinced me that what was unravelling was going to send shockwaves across the world and so I thought things would ramp up in pace. However, they never really did. A lot of the book focuses on the finding out of the thing that’s going to “send shockwaves” and less on furthering pacing or throwing in some more action scenes to fill the space.
Then by the time the reveal comes around, yes it’s quite good and it’s quite dark, but I had slightly lost interest and honestly forgotten most of what had come before.
I will admit though that the personal story elements of the plot started off quite well with our main protagonist Xavier March having a story involving his son that I found myself building some interest in but this seemed to peter out for most of the rest of the story too.
Additionally, Harris does an incredible job of creating a world that does feel like it could be a Germany that won the second world war in the 1960s. He references buildings that have been expanded upon as a result of the victory, how tourism has been affected by the successes, what people’s opinions of Germany as a country are after winning the war and uses many more clever little world-filling techniques. Arguably the best thing about the book!
Fatherland characters – 3.75/5
I would argue that writing energetic characters isn’t one of Robert Harris’ strong points. As with The Act of Oblivion, the characters in Fatherland aren’t particularly memorable. Xavier March himself serves as a vessel to further the plot along – yes he has some moments with his son and there is a potential relationship throughout but none of these gave me any reasons to find March a particularly enjoyable character.
And there are also no other characters along the way that I found added the story either. You have the potential here to really explore what an aged Hitler would act like 20 years after making Germany the most powerful country in the world, but this really isn’t explored at all and instead is replaced with some far lower-ranked staff of little interest.
Fatherland final rating – 4/5
I was so excited by Fatherland going in because it seemed like a book right up my street – alternative historical fiction where Germany won the second world war and then someone discovered something that could topple them. However, some very slow pacing, a lack of any real fast-paced plot and a story that never really got interesting until quite near the end left my very underwhelmed. The book is redeemed by some incredible work by Harris to bring this alternative war-winning Germany to life which was, without a doubt, my favourite part of the whole book!
