Set in November 1933, The Prisoner by Sally Carson continues the story of the Kluger family as they grapple with the aftermath of Lexa Kluger’s death. Her brother Helmy is deeply traumatised by what he witnessed on the mountain the night she died, and his growing instability leads to a violent confrontation with Bülow, a fellow party member, forcing his brother Erich to intervene.

The novel, written in 1935 as a sequel to Crooked Cross, draws on Carson’s firsthand experiences in Bavaria during the rise of fascism. It portrays the tightening grip of the Nazi Party on German society, including the persecution that led to Lexa and her boyfriend Moritz being hunted down because of forbidden relationships between Germans and Jews.

Although both of Carson’s novels were praised upon publication, they later fell out of print and were largely forgotten. Recently rediscovered and republished, The Prisoner stands as a powerful and prescient account of a family torn apart by fear, ideology and the escalating brutality of the era.