Every Man Dies Alone — Hans Fallada

This never-before-translated masterpiece -- by a heroic best-selling writer who saw his life crumble when he wouldn't join the Nazi Party -- is based on a true story.

It presents a richly detailed portrait of life in Berlin under the Nazis and tells the sweeping saga of one working-class couple who decides to take a stand when their only son is killed at the front. With nothing but their grief and each other against the awesome power of the Reich, they launch a simple, clandestine resistance campaign that soon has an enraged Gestapo on their trail, and a world of terrified neighbors and cynical snitches ready to turn them in.

In the end, it's more than an edge-of-your-seat thriller, more than a moving romance, even more than literature of the highest order -- it's a deeply stirring story of two people standing up for what's right, and for each other.