The Quiet Twin

"You were with Zuzka last night," she said. "I saw you. It was quite late. You were standing by the window."

She said it quite simply, as a statement of fact, but he blushed nonetheless before that name - "Zuzka" - and the familiarity it implied. He felt the janitor's gaze upon him, curious now, one of his wrists rising to rub at his jawbone, then higher up, along the ear.

"A patient call," the doctor explained more to him than to the girl, too hastily perhaps, his own voice pedantic in his ears. "She has been unwell."

"Speckstein's niece? Aye, I've heard such a thing." The janitor let go of the paddle he was holding, simply tossed it on the floor, and scratched himself properly now, at the chin and above the ear. The doctor wondered whether it was possible he carried lice.

"She seemed upset about her uncle's dog," Beer said. "Apparently it has been killed."

"Killed? Gutted, more like."

The little girl heard the old man's answer and followed ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. A central theme to the novel is surveillance and observation. How much of the story is left up to the reader's imagination? How does this create tension?
2. Dan Vyleta says in his author's note: 'Sixty-five years after the Second World War it is easy for most of us to convince ourselves that we could never have belonged amongst those who would have held wrong-headed beliefs; it is a more nagging question to wonder what one might have done in order to secure more modicum and material success.' Discuss the moral stature of Professor Speckstein, Doctor Beer and Teuben in light of this comment.
3. How does the novel convey a brutalisation and destruction of innocence? Discuss with particular reference to the experiences of Lieschen, Eva and ...