The Silent Angel (Heinrich Boll, written 1950, published 1992)

Protagonist is a veteran German soldier - Hans Schnitzler - a hardened cynic who made going AWOL and forging papers into something of an art form in the waning days of WWII.  Setting is Cologne - in the very final days of the war, and the very first days of the postwar era.

Schnitzler searches for the widow of a comrade; has problems with her wealthy guardian.  He also runs into a widow who has just lost a baby; tries to learn how to form a relationship with her.  Schnitzler's wife also had died.  Gloomy enough - probably meaning it was realistic - such that the book supposedly was suppressed in Germany for over 40 years.

Characters struggle to cope in a new world presented to them in a thoroughly devastated city.  Where simply finding food is an adventure.  Schnitzler becomes expert at stealing coal off moving trains as a way to pay for food.  Finds a form of re-connection with the Catholic church.

Short, worthwhile.