Knife Edge (Messers Schneide), originally published in Germany in 1986, introduces American readers to the work of Ralf Rothmann, an award-winning poet and novelist born in Schleswig in 1953.
Set in West Berlin before the collapse of The Wall,...The lunacy of the final months of World War II, as experienced by a young German soldier Distant, silent, often drunk, Walter Urban is a difficult man to have as a father. But his son―the narrator of this slim, harrowing novel―is curious about...
Almost twenty years after the fall of the wall, the Kreuzberg district of Berlin has become unbearably trendy and deeply unappealing to Alina and Wolf. They move to Müggelsee, at the city's bucolic border, where the differences between East and West...
Paints a delicate portrait of a twelve-year-old boy named Julian growing up in a mining community in 1960s Germany.First Light covers only a few summer weeks, following young Julian’s gradual social and sexual awakening amidst his parent&r...
‘This book’s power lies in its depiction of civilians trying to lead ordinary lives during the horror of war . . . It is shattering stuff, but Rothmann is tender towards his characters and this book is as memorable as his last.’ - The Times, â€...