New Books in German Autumn 2022

A universal tale of teenage misfits confronting topical issues such as mental health, the school system, immigration and police corruption....

A universal tale of teenage misfits confronting topical issues such as mental health, the school system, immigration and police corruption.

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The special friendship between two women as they navigate a violent and threatening world. Tackling universal and topical themes, The Warrior offers a rare insight into women’s lives in the army. 

A dizzying journey through art history in nineteen vignettes, written by the winner of the 2021 Swiss Book Prize....

A dizzying journey through art history in nineteen vignettes, written by the winner of the 2021 Swiss Book Prize.

Poignant, comic and highly readable story of a dysfunctional family which deals with the ever-relevant issue of fattism and a woman’s...

Poignant, comic and highly readable story of a dysfunctional family which deals with the ever-relevant issue of fattism and a woman’s battle to be in charge of her own body. 

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Historical novel about Empress Elisabeth of Austria, described by The Guardian newspaper as ‘a Habsburg popstar, the first royal celebrity, the earliest example of a woman body-shamed by the media and a long undiscovered 19th century feminist icon’. Sisi is also the subject of two new cinema films and two television series, including a Netflix biopic.

With a sweeping range of characters and events and its motif of the fire tower refracted through multiple timeframes, Florescu’s...

With a sweeping range of characters and events and its motif of the fire tower refracted through multiple timeframes, Florescu’s novel is reminiscent of Seehalter’s Ein Ganzes Leben, William Golding’s The Spire and Koestler’s Darkness at Noon.

Debut novel by a part-time forklift truck driver who has published two volumes of poetry. A candid and convincing family...

Debut novel by a part-time forklift truck driver who has published two volumes of poetry. A candid and convincing family saga told in the voices of three generations from the early twentieth-century to the present, set in Turkey and Germany. 

A fascinating dual portrait by one of Switzerland’s best-known authors, depicting key moments and common themes in the true lives...

A fascinating dual portrait by one of Switzerland’s best-known authors, depicting key moments and common themes in the true lives of two figures yearning for a better life. Sabina Spielrein is a Russian-Jewish physician and one of the first female psychotherapists, and Fritz Platter is a founding member of the Swiss Communist Party and Communist International.  

Das vergessene Buch – Set in New York during the Second World War, Rendezvous in Manhattan captures the everyday atmosphere of the...

Das vergessene Buch – Set in New York during the Second World War, Rendezvous in Manhattan captures the everyday atmosphere of the bustling city from the point of view of beautiful factory worker as she rises from rags to riches. It is the only novel by the exiled Austrian writer and cabaret artist, Grete Hartwig-Manschinger, who settled in New York after fleeing the Nazis.

A literary detective story, with echoes of Stranger Things: a German filmmaker sets out to find a refugee from the Chernobyl...

A literary detective story, with echoes of Stranger Things: a German filmmaker sets out to find a refugee from the Chernobyl disaster who went to Germany, was catapulted to international fame as a chess wunderkind and then disappeared.  

A spectacular debut that tells the story of two brothers and their father who leave Iran for Berlin in the...

A spectacular debut that tells the story of two brothers and their father who leave Iran for Berlin in the late 1980s. One of the brothers is drawn into a culture of gang crime in the Berlin suburb of Neukölln.

The award-winning Anna Kim’s story of a baby, given up for adoption in 1950s Wisconsin. Story of a Child tells of social...

The award-winning Anna Kim’s story of a baby, given up for adoption in 1950s Wisconsin. Story of a Child tells of social workers’ inconclusive search for the baby’s father and ethnic identity, and the intersection of his story with that of the narrator, an author of Austrian and Korean descent.  

Novella is set in modern-day Germany in the offices of a telephone counselling service, focusing on the lives of the...

Novella is set in modern-day Germany in the offices of a telephone counselling service, focusing on the lives of the seven volunteers there, and the people who phone in – the so-called ‘invisibles’ – who are often on the fringes of society. This is beautifully written, high-quality literary fiction, centred around a fresh and well-executed concept.  

Début work by Shelly Kupferberg, who was born in Tel Aviv and now and works in Berlin as a journalist...

Début work by Shelly Kupferberg, who was born in Tel Aviv and now and works in Berlin as a journalist and presenter. Kupferberg tells of her great-great-uncle Isidor’s meteoric rise and brutal fall, using family letters, photos, old documents and archival finds. 

Menasse’s insightful portrayal of the state of play in twenty-first century EU politics is both a thought-provoking analysis of the...

Menasse’s insightful portrayal of the state of play in twenty-first century EU politics is both a thought-provoking analysis of the ongoing challenges faced by the European project, as well as a lively and humorous take on the political dimensions of human lives.

Compelling debut is a coming-of-age story about a teenager growing up in East Germany after reunification. By turns desperate and...

Compelling debut is a coming-of-age story about a teenager growing up in East Germany after reunification. By turns desperate and funny, the first-person narrative focuses on the significance of friendships as well as the social barriers encountered by the protagonists.  

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Spitzweg tells the story of three young German art enthusiasts who find their new relationship tested by an eccentric revenge plan and their own love triangle, with their coming-of-age mediated by way of the discussion of art.

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Cutting-edge crime thriller by acclaimed Austrian author, Kurt Palm, tackles difficult themes, including xenophobia, toxic masculinity and gun violence. 

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Linguistically sparkling, this original novella brings women’s voices to the fore and deals with loss of control, borderline experiences, love, friendship and art. 

Latest novel by prize-winning author Andreas Stichmann, set in North Korea. A love story between a German woman and a...

Latest novel by prize-winning author Andreas Stichmann, set in North Korea. A love story between a German woman and a North Korean woman, it takes a sensitive and complex look at a country that is underrepresented and little-understood in the West.