The Club, Takis Wurger

TITLE: The Club

AUTHOR:  Takis Wurgen

PUBLISHER:  Grove Press

PUB. YEAR: 2019

SETTING:  Germany; England
FORMAT:  -  ARC

RATING - 4/5

The Club, is a work of fiction that tells the story of a group of elite, privileged, young men at Cambridge University's Pitt Club, behaving badly.

Hans Stichler, grew up as an orphan. He was shy and bullied and learned to box early on as a way to defend himself.  An invitation from aunt Alex to spend time at Cambridge university where she teaches art history will ensure him a place at St. John's College.  In exchange, aunt Alex needs his help. She needs him to find out more about a secret society, referred to as, The Pitt Club.  The Pitt Club was a long time fixture at Cambridge where the very rich and often very obnoxious, felt as if they could do whatever they pleased without consequences.

Hans, because of his boxing background and likable ways is able to gain access to the club, despite his upbringing and social class being so different than the other club members.  What he discovers is shocking.

This is a very short, concise, well-written novel (fewer than 200 pages). The characters were surprisingly complex for a short work as well.  The book does contain some off-putting passages which include racist overtures, rape and other acts of violence, making this a book some readers might want to avoid.  It does, however, leave the reader with plenty to think about.  The translation, overall, was very good and it's the type of book that can be easily read in one sitting.  I'm happy I had a chance to try it.