Book Review by Indiana Brown: The Spring of Kaspar Meier by Ben Fergusson (Abacus, 2014.) If you are brave enough for real darkness, a mystery that will actually give you nightmares, then this is the book for you.

The Spring of Kaspar Meier by Ben Fergusson (Abacus, 2014.) If you are brave enough for real darkness, a mystery that will actually give you nightmares, then this is the book for you.
Ben Fergusson instantly transports the reader into a bombed out dismal post-war Berlin world where an assortment of shell shocked characters eek out a pathetic existence amid the rubble of its terrible history. 


One-eyed Kaspar Meier, a gay black-market trader and the unlikely hero, is as damaged and unappealing as any protagonist you will come across. Bruised by tragic events, including the loss of his greatest love, he is reconciled to staying alive long enough to see out his ill father, who in his words, ‘wouldn’t see falling snow again, probably not even falling leaves.’ As it turns out his father doesn’t even live to feel the heat of the summer. The author forces us into extreme situations to explore the questions surrounding the meaning of our existence. What is worth staying alive for?

What is worth fighting for? What is the value of a human life? 

In this beautifully written and well-plotted story, Meier’s miserable existence is both threatened by and ultimately redeemed through his friendship with a mysterious young woman. If you have a resilient disposition and are unafraid of facing bleakest desperation, then this is the mystery for you.