A few days ago, I asked an American acquaintance—as one often does these days—where he sees “it” heading, by which I meant the political situation. He paused and replied, “In my opinion, the US is in a very similar position to Germany in 1933–34. And we have to ask, could 1936, 1937, 1938 have been avoided? That’s where we are now. You might argue that fascism couldn’t happen in the US, but I think the jury’s still out.”
His words struck a chord with me because I had just finished reading a remarkable novel set in Germany during those very years, written in 1933 and published in 1934. Forgotten for decades, Sally Carson’s Bavaria-based novel, Crooked Cross, was republished in April by Persephone Books, which specializes in reviving overlooked works. Since then, it has become a surprise hit, a word-of-mouth sensation passed eagerly from reader to reader.
Crooked Cross begins in December 1932 and ends at midsummer the following year. It is set in the fictional Bavarian town of Kranach, a picturesque spot in the foothills of the Alps. The story centers on the Kluger family—a modest, middle-class household with kind, loving parents and three grown children, Helmy, Lexa, and Erich—as they gather for Christmas with their cousins and Lexa’s fiancé, Moritz. The scene is warm, delightful, and full of promise: a tree adorned with glass baubles and candles, tissue-wrapped gifts, carols, and roasted goose. Everything is beautifully decorated, “even”—one reads with a shudder, knowing where it all led—”Helmy’s picture of Hitler, which stood on the piano.”
Sally Carson wrote two sequels to Crooked Cross, completing the trilogy by 1938. She died of cancer in 1941, not yet 40. Nicola Beauman, founder of Persephone Books, came across a mention of Carson’s work years ago in an academic book on female writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although Crooked Cross was well-reviewed in 1934, it made little impact and soon faded into obscurity—though Madeline Linford, the founding women’s page editor of the Manchester Guardian, selected it as a book of the year. My theory is that it was ahead of its time, sounding alarms about Germany’s direction before the British public was ready to listen. Persephone Books had to do some detective work to uncover Carson’s identity: born in Surrey in 1902 and raised by her widowed mother in Dorset, she worked as a publisher’s reader and spent many holidays with friends in Bavaria, giving her deep knowledge of the region.
One of the book’s remarkable qualities is its immediacy. Written and published quickly, it covers six months of dramatic political change: Hitler becoming chancellor, the Nazis gaining an effective majority in the Reichstag, the opening of Dachau, and the exclusion of Jews from public-service jobs. At the start, characters greet each other with a cheerful “Grüss Gott”; by the end, Herr Kluger is heil-Hitlering acquaintances in the street, and local church bells have been altered to chime with the Nazi anthem, the Horst Wessel song. In just six months, the close-knit Kluger family falls apart. An attentive reader will notice early on, for example, that Lexa’s fiancé Moritz Weissman, a devout Roman Catholic leaving Christmas mass, bears a Jewish surname.
Reading this novel with the hindsight Carson lacked is a powerful, at times painful, experience. For us in 2025, everything she describes hurtles toward an inevitable conclusion: war and the Holocaust. For her, these were nightmares yet to be dreamed—though there is a grim passage…In one scene, the elder Klugers question their son, who has fallen under the Nazi spell: “Do you want another war?” Though very different books, the immediacy of Crooked Cross gives it an urgent edge that brings to mind Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet, the first of which, Autumn, was written and published quickly after the 2016 Brexit vote.
What stands out about Carson is that, even without knowing where Hitler’s ideology would lead, her novel maintains a firm moral foundation. There is no ambiguity. From the book’s perspective, the treatment of Jews and communists in Germany is clearly horrific. As early as 1933, Carson wrote about the grim reports from Dachau: “People would suddenly vanish, with no trial or explanation,” and “prisoners were half-starved, bullied, and treated inhumanly.”
Not every foreign observer wrote about Hitler’s Germany this way at the time. A 1936 three-part New Yorker profile of Hitler by Janet Flanner is impressive in its own right—filled with details like the Führer’s preferred porridge and where he bought his suits (“He deliberately chooses a second-rate tailor”). Yet, with its detached, ironic tone and focus on Hitler’s habits rather than the broader impact of his actions, Flanner’s piece serves as a chilling example of missing the forest for the trees.
Crooked Cross keeps its distance from Hitler, never getting closer than the photograph on the piano. Politics unfold in the background, only understood as their effects trickle down to the Klugers and their small town. In many ways, it is a conventional, middlebrow domestic novel with a somewhat earnest tone. For me, that earnestness is a strength: it avoids the mistake of dismissing Nazism as laughable, as many in Britain did at the time. By focusing on ordinary people, the novel offers far deeper insight into Nazism’s spread and appeal than Flanner’s profile of Hitler.
The Kluger family, like countless others across Germany, is deeply scarred by the Great War and shaped by economic collapse. The sons have never found meaningful work: Helmy is unemployed, and Erich works as an unfulfilled ski instructor.
Carson illustrates how extremism, once it takes hold, gives these young men purpose, employment, a narrative, hope, and clearly defined roles. It also provides them with targets—leftists and Jews—to hate, blame, punish, and soon, to beat and kill. Carson’s strong sense of morality is matched by her empathy. There is nothing inherently evil about these young men who turn against their peers and former friends, but they make their choices. The parallels to today are unmistakable. If only we all had Carson’s insight and moral clarity.
Charlotte Higgins is the Guardian’s chief culture writer.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of helpful and concise FAQs about a prophetic 1933 novel that has gained renewed relevance
General Beginner Questions
1 What is the name of this 1933 novel
Answer The novel is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2 What is the books main prophetic theme
Answer It predicted a future where society is controlled not by fear and punishment but by pleasure entertainment and technology making people content but stripping away their freedom and individuality
3 Im not a big reader Why should I care about this book now
Answer The book feels incredibly relevant today because it explores themes like the overuse of antidepressants the distraction of social media the power of consumerism and genetic engineeringall of which are major parts of our modern world
4 Is it a difficult book to read
Answer Its a classic so the language can be a bit dense at times but the story is engaging and its ideas are very accessible Many find it easier to read than other dystopian classics like 1984
Deeper Advanced Questions
5 How is Brave New World different from 1984
Answer 1984 warns of a society controlled by pain surveillance and lies Brave New World warns of a society controlled by pleasure drugs and conditioning where people love their oppression
6 What are some specific examples from the book that mirror todays world
Answer
Soma is like a perfect sideeffectfree antidepressant or the use of entertainment to escape negative feelings
The Feelies are a direct parallel to virtual reality and immersive entertainment
Genetic engineering and predestined castes mirror discussions about CRISPR and social inequality
The mantra ending is better than mending perfectly captures our modern culture of consumerism and disposable products
7 The book talks about people being happy Whats wrong with that
