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dark
reflective
slow-paced
This is the kind of book that requires focus and a quiet place to read. Jenny Erpenbeck's writing is refined and dense. The story follows Katharina, a 19-year-old, and Hans, a writer in his 50s, as their relationship unravels, mirroring the decline of the GDR in the 1980s and early 90s. The novel offers a glimpse into daily life in East Berlin before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, weaving in reflections on the country’s past. Throughout the book, one question lingers: how did it all go so wrong?