Simon and Schuster Canada delivers a must-read for artists, film fans, and lovers of historical fiction. The Director, written by Daniel Kehlmann with a translation by Ross Benjamin, is a captivating tale of art and complicity.

At the story’s center is famed filmmaker, G.W. Pabst, a renowned director. The book, through shifting narratives, paints a picture of the world as it was in Austria and Germany during World War II.

Pabst, his wife, Trude, and son Jakob have returned to Austria, now called Ostmark after a horrible venture to Hollywood. Unable to get support for his ideas, and films, his one move made in the American industry flops, and he returns home, summoned by a sick mother.

After the family’s arrival, where things aren’t pleasant, they see how their home has changed. And Pabst himself slowly becomes complicit, compromising himself and his art for the Reich. There’s a lost film, heartbreaking moments, terrifying compromises, and a horrifying look at what life in the Reich was like.

Though fictionalized, Pabst and his wife, were real people, there is a missing film (part of it exists, but the rest has been lost to war and time).

Through a captivating narrative the tale shows our human frailties, and the compromises we make to live with ourselves as well as chasing our art, our need to create.

Pabst chase ends up heartbreakingly horrible, or at least the way one of the character recalls it, if it happened.

Kehlmann’s prose is evocative and engaging, sometimes dreamlike, and at times with a crystal clear vision of illness as well of the horrors of fascism.

The book and its themes are incredibly relevant given the current state of our southern neighbor. How much compromising of morals, beliefs and ethics are taking place? These themes are explored through the glass of human frailty in The Director, and it makes for an engaging read.

Kehlmann’s tale explores the film’s of yesteryear, putting us there as Pabst struggles with his own creations, and those around him like Murneau and Lang. Kehlmann masterfully weaves his narrative, and puts us there in the shoes of a driven director at one of the worst times in our documented history.

It’s a fascinating read, and I was unable to put it down.

Accessible, enjoyable, and so, so relevant, The Director is available from Simon and Schuster Canada on 6 May, pick one up at your favorite book store then!