Anna Spielmann is the protagonist of this book, which is subtitled “The Nger Story”. In this novel, Anna is assigned to be a part of the Nger World Watch program, an agency that watches over and reports on activities in Nger since it was created in 1995. The mission of this agency is to promote peace and diplomacy between the Namibian government and the independence movements of the Namibian people. Anna is assigned to be the second person in charge of this task, which she handles very well. At the start of the novel, her superiors inform her that she is not qualified for this position due to her national origin, which she refers to as her “fellow nationality”.
Because of her national origin, Anna is denied the position, and instead, given the position of inspector of a medicine und sport mit der Welt und Zuidenfels, which is a type of NGER (NAZI German) newspaper. She is also told that she cannot work on sports events or NGER reporting while she is still working for the national newspaper. Later, her superior informs her that this position can be transferred to someone else, as long as she agrees to become an additional member of the staff of the Nger World Watch. It is at this time that Anna realizes just how wrong she is, as the criteria for being accepted into the program are extremely strict. She is subsequently taken under the wing of her colleague, Dr. Hassler, who happens to be an eminent physician and her fellow national, who happens to be also a major player in the Nazi party.
What follows next is the story of Anna’s attempts to expose the Nazi regime and the lengths she goes to in order to do so. The book contains lengthy descriptions of her personal life, which puts in some discomfort for readers, but is necessary to keep the overall perspective of the story at a level that would make sense. I have not read any books that contain such detailed accounts of a private life before, during, and after a national-socialist administration, and this one is no exception. Overall, I find that Theano’s Anna Spielmann was a fascinating read, especially the portions dealing with her rise to power and her decision to turn against her former friends in the NGER.