By the author of the critically acclaimed international hits The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon and The Warsaw Anagrams, this novel proves Richard Zimler's mastery of the "riveting literary murder mystery" (Independent on Sunday). It's Berlin, 1932. Sophie is a smart and sexually precocious fourteen-year-old coming of age during Hitler's rise to power. Forced to lead a double life when her father and boyfriend become Nazi collaborators, she reserves her dreams of becoming an actress for her beloved elderly neighbor, Isaac Zarco, and his friends, most of whom are Jews working against the government in a secret group called the Ring. When a member is sent to Dachau, she realizes there must be a Nazi traitor in the group. But who? Through successive mysteries, reversals, and surprises --and a race against time --The Seventh Gate builds to a shattering climax. In its chilling but sensuous evocation of the time and place, Richard Zimler's novel is both a love story and a tale of ferocious heroism.
Richard gives an overview of the book:
By the author of the critically acclaimed international hits The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon and The Warsaw Anagrams, this novel proves Richard Zimler's mastery of the "riveting literary murder mystery" (Independent on Sunday). It's Berlin, 1932. Sophie is a smart and sexually precocious fourteen-year-old coming of age during Hitler's rise to power. Forced to lead a double life when her father and boyfriend become Nazi collaborators, she reserves her dreams of becoming an actress for her beloved elderly neighbor, Isaac Zarco, and his friends, most of whom are Jews working against the government in a secret group called the Ring. When a member is sent to Dachau, she realizes there must be a Nazi traitor in the group. But who? Through successive mysteries, reversals, and surprises --and a race against time --The Seventh Gate builds to a shattering climax. In its...
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About Richard
Richard Zimler was born in Roslyn Heights, a suburb of New York, in 1956. After earning a bachelor’s degree in comparative religion from Duke University (1977) and a master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University (1982), he worked for eight years as a...
Published Reviews
Jun.22.2011
As he did so brilliantly in "The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon" (1998), Zimler builds a riveting mystery around one of the most horrific moments in Jewish history. In 1940, following the German invasion of...
Jun.22.2011
The Warsaw Anagrams is a highly realist murder mystery. As in The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, Zimler's 1998 bestseller, the narrator sets out in the midst of massacre to solve one killing. Surprisingly...
For Readers
Awards & Bestseller Lists
Nominated for the International IMPAC Award













The Seventh Gate is the only novel I am aware of that explores the Nazi sterilization and murder of disabled people. I think this is an incredibly important crime against humanity that more people need to know about. I need your help in getting the word out about the book. Thank you!