And Never Said a Word

First published in 1953, And Never Said a Word is one of Heinrich BÖll's richest works, a novel that explores marriage with depth and compassion. BÖll evokes an entire emotional world in the space of a day and a half as a husband and wife alternately relate a story of love and isolation, poverty and injustice. Weakness, as well as strength, provides the subtle emotional threads that form the bonds of their love; and they discover married life takes a far greater toll on those who love than on those whose hearts are empty.

"Böll is a master storyteller." --New York Times

"Böll has a talent with fiction that is not hindered by translation--a low-key grace of style and a depth of human understanding." --Publishers' Weekly