Books That Travel 2023

Much of what happened in 1938 has become topical again: Refugee crisis, nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, international power struggle, a strengthening...

Much of what happened in 1938 has become topical again: Refugee crisis, nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, international power struggle, a strengthening of right-wing parties, fake news. Never-before-published documents, numerous photographs, and a lively layout make the year 1938 tangible and also reveal parallels that can be dangerous in times of a newly emerging nationalism. In this respect, this book is also a cautionary wake-up call.

Ada’s Realm is a fascinating and highly unusual novel that keeps the reader entertained with a gripping, varied plot that...

Ada’s Realm is a fascinating and highly unusual novel that keeps the reader entertained with a gripping, varied plot that spans centuries. It is set in Ghana, England and Germany and features strong female characters and topical themes including emancipation, resistance and freedom.

In a three-part story, Julia Wolf portrays three generations of women as she traces the wounds, values and experiences of...

In a three-part story, Julia Wolf portrays three generations of women as she traces the wounds, values and experiences of wartime. With Alte Mädchen, the author adds an important narrative of female subjectivity to German post-war history, opening our eyes: to where we come from, where we are going, what we should take with us and what we should let go.

Luise is smart, Luise is independent, Luise is an island. As a marine biologist, Luise has earned herself an excellent...

Luise is smart, Luise is independent, Luise is an island. As a marine biologist, Luise has earned herself an excellent reputation, her speciality: the sea walnut, a ghostly illuminated jellyfish in the darkness of the oceans. When Luise is asked to travel to Graz for a project with a renowned zoo, she doesn't hesitate for long. But Graz, that is also her hometown, that is the home of her absent and suddenly ill father. And this is the story of years of speechlessness and strangeness between them.

Nominated for the German Non- Fiction Prize 2021. Asal Dardan grew up in Germany as the child of Iranian parents,...

Nominated for the German Non- Fiction Prize 2021. Asal Dardan grew up in Germany as the child of Iranian parents, and the experience of exile has left its mark on her. In an illuminating examination of German society, she embarks on a search for a common language, for a way to bridge the eternal opposition between „us“ and „them“.

On a summer holiday in Wales, Portia and Ben find a mysterious door set in a bramble hedge in the...

On a summer holiday in Wales, Portia and Ben find a mysterious door set in a bramble hedge in the middle of a forest. It is a portal to the Otherworld and should never be opened, but how are they supposed to know that? After all, the old stories about the wonders and dangers of the Otherworld have long been forgotten …

Pushkin Children’s Books, 320pp, 978-1-78269-345-1

 

Impeccably researched and incredibly moving, Alice's Book sheds light on an untold chapter in the history of Nazi crimes against...

Impeccably researched and incredibly moving, Alice's Book sheds light on an untold chapter in the history of Nazi crimes against Jewish authors.

MacLehose Press, 368pp, 978-1-5294-1630-5

Nominated for the German Non-Fiction Prize 2022. German-Russian relations are a key factor of world politics. This book provides an...

Nominated for the German Non-Fiction Prize 2022. German-Russian relations are a key factor of world politics. This book provides an analysis of the tense and turbulent relationship, enabling understanding of the current situation. 

The book tells the story of an entire epoch: a drama of betrayal and self-delusion spanning the years 1905 to...

The book tells the story of an entire epoch: a drama of betrayal and self-delusion spanning the years 1905 to 1975, taking us from Riga to Moscow, Berlin and Munich all the way to Tel Aviv.

 

Picador, 736pp, 978-1-5098-7908-3

In her perceptive and affecting new novel, Daniela Krien explores a marriage where everything hangs in the balance. How can...

In her perceptive and affecting new novel, Daniela Krien explores a marriage where everything hangs in the balance. How can two lovers find a way back to each other, when the pain of the past stands between them?

 

Quercus Publishing, 272pp, 978-1-5294-2138-5

Which memories make us who we are? A hugely powerful life story: a bridge between Germany and Iraq, a great...

Which memories make us who we are? A hugely powerful life story: a bridge between Germany and Iraq, a great story of searching and re- membering. This moving and poetic novel carries within it the sounds of a whole life. A host of beautiful images reveal the full force of Abbas Khider’s writing.

When it was erected in 1892, the Bucharest fire tower was the tallest building in the city. In 1989, during...

When it was erected in 1892, the Bucharest fire tower was the tallest building in the city. In 1989, during the uprising against the communist dictatorship, it was long gone, but it was witness to an eventful century. In his captivating novel spanning a hundred years and five generations of the Stoica firefighter family, Catalin Dorian Florescu tells of the vicissitudes of history, of family and friendship, betrayal and love, of the power of resilience and of the changing, colourful and then sad life in this metropolis.

A gripping thriller by filmmaker Kurt Palm. Teacher Franziska Steinbrenner has finally won the custody battle for her daughter. Police...

A gripping thriller by filmmaker Kurt Palm. Teacher Franziska Steinbrenner has finally won the custody battle for her daughter. Police officer Philip Hoffmann is being blackmailed by his exlover. Meanwhile, a man sits in his apartment seeking revenge. Next to him leans an assault rifle with 42 bullets in the magazine. Three people whose lives are intertwined. They don‘t know each other, but their paths will cross in fatal ways.

Based on the internationally bestselling and award-winning Austrian novelist Monika Helfer's own family history, Last House Before the Mountain is...

Based on the internationally bestselling and award-winning Austrian novelist Monika Helfer's own family history, Last House Before the Mountain is a propulsive, haunting, multi-layered saga about love, family, and the hidden wages of war.

 

Bloomsbury Publishing, 192pp, 978-1-5266-5713-8

Kaśka Bryla weaves a gripping story about the causes of radicalization with a plea for solidarity and love. Iga, Jess...

Kaśka Bryla weaves a gripping story about the causes of radicalization with a plea for solidarity and love. Iga, Jess and Ras are outsiders in their school class. When the teenagers witness a brutal police assault one night and this outrage goes unpunished, they decide to take the law into their own hands. Twenty years later, a mysterious stranger appears who seems to know about what happened at the time.

An entertaining and informative voyage through cultural fantasies of the North, from sea monsters and a mountain-sized magnet to racist...

An entertaining and informative voyage through cultural fantasies of the North, from sea monsters and a mountain-sized magnet to racist mythmaking.

 

WW Norton, 256pp, 978-1-324-05028-5

Doris Knecht writes about a woman who becomes a victim of stalking, proving once again she can write with fine...

Doris Knecht writes about a woman who becomes a victim of stalking, proving once again she can write with fine scepticism on the topic of people’s relationships. Four years after the death of her husband, Ruth is living alone in a house in the countryside where she was once happy with her family. Ruth has learned to appreciate being on her own. Until one day, she receives an anonymous text message from a person who seems to know more about her life than she does. 

A novel that offers a timely and important reflection on experiences of immigration and on defying the temptation to assimilate...

A novel that offers a timely and important reflection on experiences of immigration and on defying the temptation to assimilate in a host country.

A woman takes a holiday in the Austrian mountains, spending a few days with her cousin and his wife in...

A woman takes a holiday in the Austrian mountains, spending a few days with her cousin and his wife in their hunting lodge. When the couple fails to return from a walk, the woman sets off to look for them. But her journey reaches a sinister and inexplicable dead end. She discovers only a transparent wall behind which there seems to be no life. Trapped alone behind the mysterious wall she begins the arduous work of survival.

 

Penguin Vintage Classics, 256pp, 978-1-78487-803-0

It’s 2011 and the Arab Spring is in full bloom when the discovery of two bodies in Beirut sows the...

It’s 2011 and the Arab Spring is in full bloom when the discovery of two bodies in Beirut sows the first seeds of unrest in Lebanon. With houses already burning, Amin sets out to write down his memories of the country. In this novel full of mystery and suspense, friendship and loss, searches and secrets, Jarawan skillfully interweaves a deeply personal story with the tumultuous history of the Middle East.

 

World Editions, 472pp, 978-1-912987-29-0