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About the author
Stefan Heym (1913-2001) was the author of over a dozen novels. A German Jew and a Communist who escaped the Nazis as a young man, he obtained American citizenship and fought in the U.S. Army before returning to East Germany in the 1950s to escape the anti-Communist purges in America. Denounced by Erich Honecker in 1965, Heym lived under state surveillance for many years, and his novels were banned from publication. He played a significant part in the movement to demolish the Berlin Wall, and became a member of parliament in the united Germany. He died in Israel in 2001.
Summary
It is 1956, and Daniel Wollin returns to East Germany after sixteen years of Soviet imprisonment. A brilliant architect, Daniel is taken in by his former colleague, Arnold Sundstrom, who has become hugely successful since their exile in Moscow. Together, the two men work to redesign the nation for the Communist future.
But with Daniel's arrival, Arnold's young wife, Julia, begins to uncover the lies that hold her marriage together and the mystery behind her own parents' deaths in Russia many years ago. A novel of political intrigue and personal betrayal, The Architects tells a story of love and friendship in a world governed by surveillance and mistrust.
Foreword
Why had they done this? Why not let the dead stay buried?'
