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Berlin. 11 July 1986. They meet by chance on a bus.
She is a young student, he is older and married. Theirs is an intense and sudden attraction, fuelled by a shared passion for music and art, and heightened by the secrecy they must maintain. But when she strays for a single night he cannot forgive her and a dangerous crack forms between them, opening up a space for cruelty, punishment and the exertion of power.
And the world around them is changing too: as the GDR begins to crumble, so too do all the old certainties and the old loyalties, ushering in a new era whose great gains also involve profound loss. From a prize-winning German writer, this is the intimate and devastating story of the path of two lovers through the ruins of a relationship, set against the backdrop of a seismic period in European history.
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Kairos 9781783786138 Paperback
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Kairos
It is a relief that the narrative is framed from the present to the preceding events. It’s not an easy read, although it starts gently and thrillingly with an unlikely and unorthodox relationship in a divided Berlin. Maybe a little familiarity with Berlin now and then is helpful, although the writer…
It is a relief that the narrative is framed from the present to the preceding events. It’s not an easy read, although it starts gently and thrillingly with an unlikely and unorthodox relationship in a divided Berlin. Maybe a little familiarity with Berlin now and then is helpful, although the writer is expert at conveying the constraints and hard won pleasures of the times. The relationship develops in a kind of parallel with the unravelling of political certainties. Fast-moving, sometimes shocking, always challenging. A worthy winner of the International Booker prize.
- Authors:
- Jenny Erpenbeck
- Format:
- Paperback
- ISBN:
- 9781783786138
- Publication Date:
- 02/05/2024
- SKU:
- 9781783786138