A review by melanieapril
Die Mittagsfrau by Julia Franck

3.0

This novel is a good example of how the Goodreads rating-system can fall short. Die Mittagsfrau (English title: The Blindness of the Heart) is an excellent work of literature, but I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone because it is BLEAK and depressing and not in a cathartic way. When I first started reading, the novel seemed especially dark and humorless and I was reminded of why I don't read more contemporary German literature just for funsies. Eventually I got caught up in the story and the prose, but I still found myself getting angry at the protagonist for her passivity and endless victimization, an effect the author probably intended. Brutal.