Book Review: History of von Schatt (1913-1960)

IndieBookView

Dec 28

History of von Schatt (1913-1960)

by Richard Daub

Genre: Historical Fiction / Literary

ISBN: 9781946094056

Print Length: 230 pages

Reviewed by Erin Britton

Richard Daub's History of von Schatt (1913-1960) is an often farcical, sometimes disturbing, and always gripping historical adventure that chronicles the life of Heinrich von Schatt, a troubled man whose life spans almost five tumultuous decades and sees him cross both oceans and continents. The truly interesting times in which he lives, including two world wars and momentous social changes, first in Europe and later in the United States, form the compelling background to von Schatt's epic tale of survival, a tale that is certainly not short on either extraordinary accomplishments or dark deeds.

For someone destined to have a significant impact on 20th century history at both the micro and macro scales, Heinrich von Schatt's life gets off to a surprisingly inauspicious start. The nameless fifteen-year-old girl fated to be his mother is desperately seeking escape from an arranged marriage when the pseudonymous "Christian Schmidt" arrives in her life on a December afternoon in 1913. Unlike the other men who stayed at her family's inn, he is "young, tall, and handsome, clad in a black silk suit, the kind that Father would describe as 'Satan's garb.'"

A bit of basic guile convinces Christian that the girl needs rescuing from the kind of monsters his father had warned him about when he set off to make his fortune as a clockmaker. A moonlight flit closely followed by a shotgun wedding finds the pair living in Eisenbach with a baby due. Sadly, while Christian has heeded his father's advice and disguised his Jewish heritage, he otherwise pays scant attention to current affairs in Germany. "While everyone else in the Black Forest, including the cows, pigs, dogs, and sheep, heard the gongs of war to the east, all the aspiring horologist heard was ticking."