The Ragged Edge of Night

Set in a small German town during the Second World War, The Ragged Edge of Night (2018) American author Olivia Hawker’s historical novel tells the epic tale of Anton Starzmann, a priest turned husband and father who eventually becomes a leader in the German resistance movement against Nazism. Along the way, he finds hope and purpose amid some of the darkest days of the 20th century.

As the novel opens, it is September of 1942, and Anton is on a train to the tiny rural hamlet of Unterboihingen, Germany. He comes laden with trunks, most of them filled with musical instruments. Anton was a Franciscan friar whom the Nazis stripped of his title and his job running a school. He has come to Unterboihingen to marry Elisabeth, a young woman he has never met before, in reply to her newspaper advertisement looking for a husband and father for her three children.

Upon his arrival, Anton and Elisabeth meet face to face, and he decides to give her space to think long and hard whether she really wants to marry him. In the meantime, he finds comfort and advice from a local priest, Father Emil. The church bells in the town start to ring, and Anton looks up at the bell tower, where a stork perches proudly; he sends up a quiet prayer for his new life in this strange town.



The next month, Anton and Elisabeth marry in a small ceremony at the local church. Not long after, they go to the market armed with eggs from their chickens, hoping to trade them. While there, Anton sees Elisabeth sneak food for a Jewish family currently hiding from the Nazis.

Anton returns to Father Emil to ask if there is any work in the village. The priest gives him the position of church organist and refers him to several parents in town who might want to hire him as a music teacher for their children.

When Elisabeth finds Anton's instruments, which he has concealed in a shed, she begs him to sell them because they need the money. He declines to do so; the thought of the instruments brings back memories of his former pupils at the school, rounded up by the Nazis and taken to concentration camps. Anton and Elisabeth make peace, and he discusses with her his love of music. Christmas soon arrives, and Anton, Elisabeth, and their three children walk to the church for services. However, along the way, they must hide from the planes flying overhead en route to Stuttgart.



Father Emil pulls Anton aside to ask him to relay messages for the Resistance. Anton agrees to take on the dangerous role; it will bring in extra money, and he can help the Resistance effort. After his first assignment, he lies to Elisabeth and tells her that he sold his instruments as she asked, which is the reason he now has more money to contribute to the household.

Anton continues his secret work carrying messages for the Resistance, becoming part of a movement called the Red Orchestra. One day, Elisabeth informs him that a local Nazi official has propositioned her for sex, but she refused the offer. Anton consults Father Emil about how to handle the situation.

Times grow leaner and grimmer in Unterboihingen. With food scarce, Anton finds his sons rooting through a neighbor's fallow fields looking for leftover potatoes. Shortly thereafter, Elisabeth finds the instruments and, betrayed, she attempts to leave Anton. He wins her back by playing one of her favorite songs—which gives him an idea. The Nazi leader Mobelbauer has asked Anton to start a local branch of the Hitler Youth, but he responds instead by suggesting that, rather than a Hitler Youth group, he start a band for all the boys in town. After all, he already has the instruments. Mobelbauer agrees.



During his resistance work, Anton learns about a group of Bohemian refugees who have arrived in town fleeing Nazi persecution. He and Elisabeth take in one of the refugee families. When Mobelbauer creates a scene about the influx of refugees, Anton and Elisabeth confront him, putting themselves in a dangerous position.

Father Emil keeps Anton informed about the larger work of the Resistance, explaining that they are approaching an opportunity to assassinate Hitler. The refugee family moves out of Anton and Elisabeth's home, but one of the townspeople implies that Anton might be a spy, so Anton and Elisabeth stay out of public view for a while. Anton finally reveals his secret work to Elisabeth, and, in turn, she tells him about her first husband.

The Nazi presence in Unterboihingen intensifies, and the SS makes plans to confiscate the church bells. Mobelbauer shoots and kills the stork on top of the tower. Anton sends Elisabeth and the kids to stay with his sister, and he and Father Emil covertly remove the church bells and bury them as a final act of resistance.



Once Anton, Elisabeth, and the children have reunited, news of Hitler's death arrives. With the war over, the townspeople dig up the bells, removing them from the earth. Then, Elisabeth tells Anton she is pregnant. And hope, at last, returns to Unterboihingen.