Martin and Hannah: A Novel

Germany, 1975. Two women nearing the end of their lives come together at the bedside of an old man, having spent the last fifty years vying for first place in his heart. While he slumbers in the grip of nightmares, the two enemies sit in a nearby room and declare a truce. Who are the players in this awkward love triangle?

One is the old man's wife, a woman who has played her role as the devoted mother and the obedient, bourgeois Hausfrau to the Great Man and tyrannical husband. The other is his former student and lover, nearly twenty years his junior; the Jewish intellectual consumed by her clear-sightedness. Despite the seemingly unbridgeable gulf between them, they have sustained their passion for five decades.

And he is the brilliant and famous philosopher, tormented by his Nazi past. In this wide-ranging score, each performer has an individual theme, yet each shares some of the notes of the others. But, above all, this fugue for three voices reveals the imprint of the century's greatest tragedy: for the three characters are internationally acclaimed philosopher Martin Heidegger; his wife, Elfriede; and famed social and political philosopher Hannah Arendt.

Catherine Clement skillfully paints a chiaroscuro portrait of forbidden love, recreating a famous love affair while turning the subtle intricacies of philosophy into memorable and enduring fiction.