17. Coming to Terms With Uncle Dirck
Pasternak’s research of uncle Dirck left him with more questions than answers, so in an attempt to find some closure, the Danish author turned to his stock in trade, and decided to write a novel. In Death Zones, Pasternak pictured a German police detective operating behind the lines on the Eastern Front, where, absurdly, the German criminal code was in force. It took him three years to finish the story, which began with a rusty old suitcase, just like the one Pasternak had discovered as a child.