Eva Menasse

Eva Menasse reads from her new novel "Alleinruhelage" (Kiepenheuer & Witsch).

The narrator has fulfilled an old dream: a holiday home of her own - though it turns out to be a dilapidated inn from the GDR era, set beside a forest lake in the eponymous "Alleinruhelage". The sociable neighbour was once a member of the SED, now chairs the local allotment association, and pines for better days. The other residents mostly keep to themselves, wary of newcomers.

As in "Quasikristalle" and "Dunkelblum", Eva Menasse weaves personal memory together with historical events. Born in Vienna in 1970, she turns a cool, curious eye on German-German history: the house witnesses the children growing up, the good years of a marriage - and at the same time stands as a small-scale monument to the sell-off of what was once an idyllic dacha settlement for SED functionaries, and to the slow decay of the GDR. When the narrator's marriage falls apart, new times begin for her and for the house alike.

Host: Shirin Sojitrawalla. Kindly supported by the Ilse und Dr. Horst Rusch-Stiftung.