Long after his studies, Hans receives a letter from Germany from Karl Alexander Gymnasium, his former high school, accompanied by a booklet containing a list with all the names of former students who died in the war. His parents commit suicide as a result of Nazi persecution. Hans' parents, who suspect the harassment suffered by their son in high school, decide to send him to the United States to live with his grandparents, where he studies law at Harvard University in Massachusetts and becomes a lawyer. Hitler's rise to power causes Konradin to abandon Hans. That's when Konradin tells Hans that his mother hates Jews. Finally, Konradin invites Hans to his home, but each time without the presence of his parents. Hans invites his friend several times to his house and is surprised that Konradin does not do the same. Hans and Konradin manage to become friends despite their differences. The opening sentence of the book immediately draws readers in to know more: 'He came into my life in February 1932 and never left it again.' The name of this 'he' does not come until the end of chapter 1 and the narrator's name is not revealed until the middle of chapter 2. It is a short book, yet divided into nineteen numbered chapters. The book focuses on the impossible friendship between the narrator Hans Schwarz, son of a Jewish doctor, and Konradin von Hohenfels, a young aristocrat, during the rise of the Nazi regime (in 1932) in Stuttgart, Germany. His facility with the English language is remarkable for a non-native speaker this is a beautifully hewn text, a major contribution to the novella tradition in English, and a serious work of literature. Born in Stuttgart in 1901, the author worked as a lawyer in Germany, before fleeing the Nazis in 1933, moving to France, where he was a painter, then Spain, and by 1936 settled in the United Kingdom. The Penguin edition includes the information that the novella was written in 1960 and was Uhlman's first work of fiction.

The novella was first published in 1971 in an edition of 700, plus 50 hors commerce signed and numbered by the author. Reunion (originally written in English ) is a novella by Fred Uhlman, set in Germany, seven years before the start of World War II.

L'amico ritrovato by Fred Uhlman