FRANK GOOSEN - Lovely Rita

Lovely Rita
Frank Goosen's New Novel

In his new novel, Frank Goosen steps into a pub. More precisely, into "Haus Himmelreich", an old corner bar where stories and fates intersect: there's the bar counter with the Captain, the Tall One, and Willi Trommer, characters who have been sitting here since time immemorial. There's Gisela, the artful barmaid, Wacholder-Anni with God's toolbox, Faris the comedian, Harry the old social democrat, Carlo who looks like Cat Stevens, and the Countess who has seen the whole world but sometimes lives in an old song. Above all, there's Rita Urbaniak, Lovely Rita, the pub owner who once wanted to do something completely different, but life got in the way. And her sister Chris, born during the war, who has always traveled the world searching for what we lightly call happiness. Between the regulars' table and the women's corner, before the first drink comes the grounding ritual - you pay and you're friendly, and turning two sixes in the second roll into a one works at dice only on Maundy Thursday. In "Lovely Rita", Frank Goosen tells with his characteristic humor and warmth about a dying biotope: the pub.

Isn't it absurd that the foam on a beer is called "Blume" but the glass is called "Tulpe"?