In 1939, an Austrian 19-year-old named Hermine Braunsteiner accepted a job as a prison guard in Germany with the hopes of sending more money to her family back home. A decade later, she is known as ‘The Mare’ and is renowned for the brutal violence she enacted across multiple concentration camps during the Second World War. Her past is unbeknownst to Russell, the American man she marries after the war, until 1964, when there’s a knock on the door from a New York Times journalist. Russell’s suburban life comes crashing down as he tries to comprehend how his wife could be capable of the despicable actions he is hearing about. Based on the real-life extradition of Braunsteiner from the US for Nazi war crimes, this novel is as absorbing as it is deeply unsettling. Hampshire’s debut novel sharply observes the horrific path from humanity to cruelty, and the tragic results of dehumanisation. IM

Penguin