Before the Light Fades

'A fascinating story of courage, doubt and defiance across three generations' SARAH WATERS


'Heartfelt and upfront... A grieving daughter rediscovers her mother's political past' BLAKE MORRISON, Guardian


'A compelling reconstruction of her mother's life as a young anti-nuclear activist defying her suburban parents' CATHERINE TAYLOR, Financial Times


'Grief and loss sit alongside hope, in this affecting family story that also reckons with some of humanity's greatest challenges' SUSIE ORBACH

After the sudden suicide of her mother at age 75, Natasha Walter is thrown into bewilderment and sadness.

In trying to understand why her mother took such a shocking decision, she explores Ruth's complicated, courageous life. She traces Ruth's rebellious actions in the nuclear disarmament movement, and the legacy of Ruth's father Georg, whose involvement in the anti-Nazi resistance of the 1930s in Germany led to his imprisonment and torture. Walter looks deeply into the shadows around both lives, and also finds the hope and joy, and remembers the determination that they showed to hold on to justice and truth. And so she finds herself stepping back into life once more. This is a story of ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges, that reminds how we can all stand up for what we believe before the light fades.