The Club

A runaway bestseller in Europe, The Club is a blistering novel set around an elite all-male dining club at Cambridge University, a page-turning story of privilege, power, and retribution

About the author

Takis Würger is a reporter working for the German news magazine Der Spiegel. He studied Human, Social, and Political Science at St. John's College Cambridge for a year before dropping out. During this time, he boxed for the University, broke two ribs and his hand, and became a member of the Adonians, the Hawks' Club, and the Pitt Club. Named one of Medium's "Top 30 Journalists under 30," alongside other accolades, Würger's work as a journalist has taken him to Afghanistan, Libya, Mexico, and Ukraine. The Club, which won the lit.Cologne debut prize and has become a runaway bestseller in Germany, is his first novel.Charlotte Collins studied English at Cambridge University. She worked as an actor and radio journalist in both Germany and the U.K. before becoming a literary translator. She is best known for her translation of International Booker shortlisted Robert Seethaler's A Whole Life and was the recipient of the Helen & Kurt Wolff's Translator's Prize in 2017. She lives in London.

Summary

A runaway bestseller in Europe, The Club is a blistering novel set around an elite all-male dining club at Cambridge University, a page-turning story of privilege, power, and retribution

As a boy, Hans Stichler enjoys a fable-like childhood among the rolling hills and forests of North Germany, living an idyll that seems uninterruptable—until two disasters change his life forever. He falls into the guardianship of his eccentric English aunt Alex, who invites him to come to university at Cambridge, where she teaches art history.

Alex will ensure his application to St. John’s College is accepted, but in return Hans must help her investigate a secretive Cambridge institution known as the Pitt Club. The Club has existed at Cambridge for centuries, its long legacy of tradition, privilege, and decadence largely unquestioned. As Hans makes his best efforts to prove Club material, including training for the university boxing team, he is drawn into a glamorous world of debauchery and macho solidarity. And when he falls in love with fellow student Charlotte, the stakes of his deception are raised. For there are dark secrets in the Club’s history, as well as in its present—and Hans soon finds himself in the inner sanctum of an dangerous institution, forced to grapple with the notion that sometimes one must do wrong to do right.

A provocative and timely novel from a highly regarded young writer, The Club is an invitation into a world behind closed doors, one of long-held secrets, hallowed history, and toxic behavior.

Additional text

Praise for The Club: “The gritty subject matter is juxtaposed against a prose style we tend to associate with a different kind of novel—it reads more like a coming-of-age story than a thriller. Würger’s writing is mannered; it often has an otherworldly, fable-like quality.”—Adelle Waldman, New York Times Book Review“Würger’s debut was a bestseller in his native Germany. Its universal themes, brilliantly depicted world and taut storytelling constitute a recipe for further success . . . The Club starts out as a poignant coming-of-age tale and then morphs into an intelligent, fast-paced thriller that scrutinizes class divides and gender imbalance . . . Würger serves up visceral thrills with boxing bouts. But he delivers real knockout blows as Hans goes deeper undercover and learns ‘what humans are at heart: predators.’”—Malcolm Forbes, Minneapolis Star Tribune “A timely, beautifully paced novel about class and prestige in the #MeToo era . . . In a campus novel that echoes the detective structure of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, Würger cycles between each character’s voice to brilliantly evoke the medieval unreality of Cambridge and the almost comical wealth of the students. There is much to dissect in this concise and dramatic tale.”—Booklist “A young man infiltrates a secret university club and discovers a dangerous secret . . . The club is full of rich, privileged young men well-versed in secrets, debauchery, and something far more sinister . . . The novel’s complicated ending touches on the problem of justice and redemption: who gets it, who deserves it, and its human cost. A sparse, cutting debut in which violence begets violence begets healing.”—Kirkus Reviews “Distinguished German journalist Würger, who broke some bones boxing for a year at Cambridge, offers a powerful and provoking story.”—Library Journal “A cunning, sinuous tale, Takis Würger’s The Club is so wildly entertaining that, at first, it’s easy to miss its deeper mysteries. But, as it unfolds, brutal truths about class and gender and violence emerge, take hold and shudder through the novel’s final pages.”—Megan Abbott, best-selling author of Give Me Your Hand and You Will Know Me “The Club, Takis Würger’s exquisite debut, is a novel as rare as a phoenix, a story both beautifully told and white-knuckle thrilling. A tale of pain, privilege and revenge, The Club reads like something both mythical and modern, a fable whose pages demand to be turned.”—Christopher J. Yates, author of Black Chalk and Grist Mill Road “Filled with love, sorrow, and beauty—from the cover to the final sentence.”—Elle (Germany) “The Club describes the fine distinctions of class society as shrewdly and entertainingly as it talks about violent rituals at an English university . . . A truly great book.”—Denis Scheck, ARD “A wonderful book. The tone is almost fable-like, but the themes are painfully contemporary.”—Brigitte “Real writers are few and far between. I believe that Takis Würger is one of them.”—Thomas Glavinic, author of Night Work “Würger artfully circles the dark secret of the university campus . . . His language is so transparent that the story is never weighed down with a sense of its significance . . . Skillfully choreographed.”—Die Zeit “An enthralling book.”—Welt am Sonntag “Würger writes about sex and crime in the noble Cambridge Pitt Club—without sentimentality but with both gentleness and an understanding of the zeitgeist.”—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung “The fast-moving plot leaves the reader holding their breath.”—Hamburger Morgenpost “Refined, gripping, and elegant all at once. Würger’s language is precise and impressive in its clarity and concision.”—Weser-Kurier

Product details

• Authors: Takis Wurger, Takis Wurger, Takis Würger
• Assisted by: Charlotte Collins (Translation), Collins Charlotte (Translation)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 18.02.2020
• EAN: 9780802148322
• ISBN: 978-0-8021-4832-2
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; England, Back to school, Modern & contemporary fiction, Seasonal interest: Summer, Thriller / suspense fiction, EVENT / Summer Vacation Reading, EVENT / Back to School, Hans Stichler;Aunt Alex