In 1936 Berlin, the Nazi regime is tightening its grip on German society. Ernst Schäfer is a young zoologist who is surprised to be called back from his international studies by Heinrich Himmler, a leading member of the Nazi Party. Himmler commissions Schäfer to travel to the wilds of Tibet as an SS Officer in order to uncover the origins of the pure Aryan race. Himmler and others are clearly insane, and Schäfer a serious and competent scientist, but ambition is a powerful thing. While home in Berlin he reconnects and falls in love with Herta, his childhood sweetheart. She’s a talented flautist who endures the SS Marital School, designed to ensure she is a fit and proper wife for an SS Officer. But her marriage brings her no happiness. She is horrified by what is happening in Germany and begins to become suspicious of what her husband will to do to rise through the ranks of the Third Reich.

This is a time in history when madness and propaganda eroded decency and humanity in Germany, and where sensible people were swept up into the temptations offered by promises of glory and fame. The story is mostly told from the perspective of the ill-fated Herta as she ponders her life with her husband, who she realises she doesn’t know or trust at all. And oddly, interspersed in this sad tale are the voices of creatures killed by Schäfer on his journeys, that are reanimated by talented taxidermists and left to moulder in local museums.

This is an interesting tale of one of the lesser-known villains of the Nazi regime, although the novel is weakened by sparse character development and, at times, simplistic narration. It is, however, a timely reminder that personal ambition can trump all else.

Reviewed by Lesley West