A prophetic novel written and set during the rise of Nazism in Germany has found a surprising second life, with its republished edition becoming a word-of-mouth hit. Sally Carson's 'Crooked Cross', originally published in 1934, has been revived by Persephone Books and is being passed from hand to hand by readers struck by its chilling accuracy.
The novel is set in the fictional Bavarian town of Kranach between December 1932 and midsummer 1933, covering the period when Hitler became chancellor and the Nazis consolidated power. It follows the Kluger family, a loving middle-class clan, as their world unravels under the creeping influence of extremism. The story begins with a warm Christmas celebration, but by the end, family members are greeting each other with 'Heil Hitler' and the local church bells have been altered to chime the Nazi anthem.
Carson wrote the book in the moment, publishing it quickly as events unfolded. She had no knowledge of where Hitlerism would ultimately lead, yet her novel captures the gradual erosion of decency and the moral certainty needed to resist it. The book was well-reviewed in 1934 but soon sank into obscurity, possibly because it sounded alarms before the British public was ready to hear them.
Nicola Beauman, founder of Persephone Books, discovered Carson's work in an academic book on female writers. Carson was born in Surrey in 1902, raised in Dorset, and worked as a publisher's reader. She spent many holidays in Bavaria, giving her deep knowledge of the region. She wrote two sequels, completing the trilogy by 1938, before dying of cancer in 1941 at age 38.
The novel's immediacy has drawn comparisons to Ali Smith's seasonal quartet, written rapidly after the 2016 Brexit vote. For modern readers, the story's trajectory towards war and the Holocaust is painfully clear, even though Carson herself could not have foreseen those horrors. The book serves as a stark reminder of how extremism takes hold and the importance of resisting it.
