The Director

Tyll author Kehlmann offers a clear-eyed and propulsive chronicle of Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst (1885–1967), whose achievements included launching the careers of Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks before he reluctantly collaborated with the Nazis. As an expat in 1930s Hollywood, Pabst enjoys a reputation as a gifted artist and is eager to continue working. His latest idea is a parable for the rise of fascism in Europe, but his pitch doesn’t sell, and he’s reduced to making a superficial romance. He returns to his native Austria with his wife and their son after learning that his mother’s health has declined. But the homecoming is an unpleasant one, as the Nazis have just taken over. Pressure on Pabst escalates after Germany invades Poland and he’s summoned to Berlin, where he’s coerced into making propaganda films. Though he survives WWII, his reputation is stained by his complicity with the Nazis. Kehlmann is especially effective at illustrating the ease with which people accept the realities of living in a violent police state. As one of Pabst’s colleagues puts it to him, “You have to be extremely careful not to say anything wrong, even more so since the beginning of the war. But once you get used to it and know the rules, you feel almost free.” It’s a searing look at the mechanics of complicity. Agent: Peter Straus, RCW Literary. (May)