There are two parallel narratives in the story. The first, starting in 1934, is a story of a young girl, Hermine, who loses her father at the age of 15 and needs to support her mother and family. The second, commencing in 1956, is the story of Russell who meets the adult Hermine and marries her.

So far so good, but Hermine, goes on to become Hermine Braunsteiner, extradited from the USA because of her previous work as a female concentration camp guard and known as The Mare because she kicked inmates to death and stamped on them.

The main thesis of the book is that Hermine is a victim of events and coincidences, guilty yes, but also unfortunate in her choices. She truly loves Russell and is dragged from him to face trial while he continues to support her.

While forgiveness is possible, the novel tends towards redemption and, sometimes, tries too hard to take the side of Hermine. So, she stamps on someone because she is overworked and almost kills another inmate because an officer she fancies looked at her.

The book emphasises how she is conditioned to violence by her surroundings but, as a reader, you have to decide whether your sympathies are being manipulated also. It’s not a pleasant read but, perhaps, it may make you think that even those convicted of the worst crimes were once human beings.