Dr. B

Daniel Birnbaum

DR. B. is a work of fiction based on a larger-than-life true story from World War II, played out in the world of book publishing, émigrés, spies and diplomats in 1940s Stockholm, drawing comparison to Lara Prescott’s We Were Never Here.

The true story behind the novel DR. B. is completely unique. It all starts with a mysterious cardboard box found in an attic by Daniel Birnbaum: within the box lies a whole life-story filled with unexpected drama and intrigue in the world of book publishing and international espionage, hitherto unknown to the Birnbaum family. This extraordinary story is the basis for Daniel Birnbaum’s debut novel, the starting point for this literary gem.

In DR. B. you will meet a host of legendary characters, all very real, among them the exiled German publisher Gottfried Bermann Fischer, owner of the world-renowned S. Fischer Verlag. You will also meet Daniel Birnbaum’s grandfather, Immanuel Birnbaum, who arrives in Stockholm as a refugee to start work at the Bermann Fischer’s exiled publishing house using the pen-name Dr. B. While there, he helps British spies to spread propaganda in Germany. But in a letter written in invisible ink – something taken straight out of a spy novel – he also exposes plans of a local dissident group to sabotage a seaport.

This fascinating, compelling discovery prompted Daniel Birnbaum to pen this extraordinary novel of rare style, panache and aplomb.

If you’re looking for a ridiculously brilliant story, you can stop looking…He’s got the world’s best story—he’s got DR B.’ —Svenska Dagbladet

‘Daniel Birnbaum is the grandmaster of the art world, an über-intellectual, yet fairly grounded wonderboy. DR B is an astonishing thriller-novel…reminiscent of both Hjalmar Söderberg’s Doctor Glass as well as the dreamy melancholy in The Rings of Saturn by W.G Sebald.’ —Aftonbladet