Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch - German title 'Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzรคhlen.'
‘I think about my own secret and realise that there are things which can be
said straightaway, others need time, and some cannot be told at all.’
I was keen to read this book as I love stories set in Germany, in
particular those set in the recent past. It’s the story of a sixteen-year-old
girl, Maria, becoming awakened to adult life and experiences. It is set in
summer 1990 and the period just after, in the GDR, which will soon be the
former East Germany; the Berlin Wall having fallen, and reunification of the
country fast approaching. Maria has moved in with her boyfriend Johannes, and
the rest of the Brendel family, living quietly in the countryside. Maria has
dropped out of school and escapes into books; her thoughts return several times
to the book she is reading as the story unfolds – The Brothers Karamazov – and she draws parallels from this tale and
events in her own life. One day she meets Henner, an older, damaged man, and
the two embark on a passionate, unpredictable love affair.
It is a time of exploration and desire in Maria’s life, and the author
captures this first passionate, at times violent, love, the need she feels for
Henner, the impression he has made on her. ‘I can feel Henner’s hands – coarse, gentle,
brutal, expectant – and I long for them…’ Maria is insightful enough to
realise that this affair will impact deeply on her. ‘A life can be changed by a
single moment.’ She is discovering her own identity day by day. ‘I’m
not the same girl I once was. But who am I?’ She feels the strength of
Henner’s desire for her, and it is a contrast to her relationship to Johannes
now; though she thinks he loves her, his real passion has become his
photography, and she things he ‘doesn’t see me any more, all he sees is
pictures.’ She has a conscience; she acknowledges to herself that the
lies she is telling and her actions in deceiving the Brendels are bad. She
suspects that old Alfred knows everything and will expose her eventually. I
felt a tension building in the story as the affair gathered momentum and I was compelled
to find out what would happen. I was shocked that she had this affair and was
still living all the while with her boyfriend and his family, yet I could
believe it.
Just as events are tumultuous
for Maria, so the country around her is unsettled and changing. The fascinating
times and momentous changes in Germany then are not just a backdrop; Daniela
Krien incorporates this nicely into her tale and into the characters’ lives,
and it is all the more authentic bearing in mind that the author grew up in the
East herself. Initially we learn via Maria that the fall of the Wall and the
events surrounding it ‘went practically unnoticed here on the
farm. They stared at the television pictures from Berlin as if they were from
another country.’
As time moves on, there’s a moving reunion as a relative unseen for many
years visits the Brendels from the West, and a couple of characters take a trip
into the West too. Perhaps unsurprisingly, for the elder lady of the family,
Frieda, the trip to the West is difficult and unsettling. For Maria and Johannes
it is an adventure to head to Munich; only Maria’s second trip to the West. Her
observations come thick and fast, impressing her, then leaving her feeling
unsure about it all; ‘The sounds and smells of the West are
different….I stare at people. It’s so different here, so self-confident, so
assured, so hard to describe… I’m holding a tiny notebook. I’d planned to write
down the things I saw that were new to me, things I’d sometimes longed for. And
now I realise that everything is new to me, I’d have to write it all down: the
smell of the shops, the cleanliness of the streets, the bright facades of the
houses, women’s fashion, the excellent coffee, the beauty of of the women here…I
don’t write down anything and suddenly my heart feels heavy.’ For Siegfried,
Johannes’ hard working father, it is an enlightening, eye-opening experience to
discover the different farming methods and structures in the West, and he
returns to the East with his mind overflowing with ideas for improvement on his
own farm.
The author has written an intimate first person narrative that drew me in
to the story and held my interest. The style of writing, the spare prose, suits the tale, and the translation captures it all so well, and reads
very smoothly indeed. I hope it will reach many more readers thanks to being available in English. I was intrigued to find out what Maria would do, and how
things would develop. She can fall back on her unhappy mother only so much, and
her absent father has caused much pain in her life. It seems unusual that she
has moved to live away from her mother, but the way of life with the Brendels
is happier and more structured and she grows fond of Johannes’ family, helping
them and becoming more and more involved in the duties on the farm and in the shop,
and also learning some of their secrets. Daniela Krien nicely portrays the
happy domesticity and hard work on the farm, and there is a strong sense of place in the book..
Though not a long book, this was a very satisfying, thoughtful read, which
made me pause and think from time to time. It didn’t need to be any longer, for
me. I felt I got a sense of all the supporting characters, but all were just
that; a well drawn supporting cast for a dramatic period in Maria’s life. I thought this
was a super story and a remarkably promising debut novel, so much encapsulated
into under two hundred pages that really captured the passion, excitement and
discovery of love and desire in a girl on the cusp of womanhood, when emotions
are heightened. Maria felt real; a dreamer, a helpful hard working girl,
conflicted and flawed, lying and feeling guilty and torn, and all the more
convincing for being so rounded. I would say this is definitely an author to
watch.
Published by MacLehose
Thank you to the publisher for kindly sending me a copy of this novel to read and give an honest review.
