Heinrich Boll was one of the greatest German writers to emerge after World War II. His work grapples with the guilt, trauma, and memory of the Holocaust. Trümmerliterat.
 

"The female protagonist in the first section is a woman of forty-eight, German: she is five feet six inches tall, weighs 133 pounds (in indoor clothing), i.e. only twelve to fourteen ounces below standard weight … It would be better after all to convert the police officer’s report into indirect speech rather than quote it verbatim. This results, of course, in a considerable shift in style, and many a nice little detail goes out the window."

— Heinrich Boll, Group Portrait with Lady