Summary

In Chapter 15, Thomas settles on a protagonist for his story: Serenus Zeitblom. Klaus, Erika, and Golo are all working in Germany. Klaus visits Mimi and Goschi in Prague. He finds them destitute and writes to Katia asking to send them food packages. Klaus works as a journalist and writes about the horrors of the war. Thomas recalls his old friend Ernst Bertram, a Nazi.

Some months later, Michael and Gret come to visit with their two boys. Michael criticizes the premise for Thomas’ book. Klaus Pringsheim arrives with his son. Erika arrives as well. She is to work as her father’s secretary. When Klaus Pringsheim pokes fun at Thomas’ writing one night, Erika quickly jumps to her father’s defense. That week, Thomas reads two chapters from his novel aloud to his family. When he reads the part about a little boy...