WORKS BY FRANK ACROSS ALL EDITIONS HAVE SOLD MORE THAN 100,000 COPIES IN GERMANY ALONE • FOR READERS OF ARNO GEIGER »UNTER DER DRACHENWAND« (BENEATH DRACHENWAND MOUNTAIN), ROBERT SEETHALER »EIN GANZES LEBEN« (A WHOLE LIFE)

After the seizure of power, a new everyday life has returned to Ginsterburg. Some inhabitants of the small town suffer, others benefit - and most try to come to terms with the new order. Gradually, however, the abyss opens up beneath everyday life. A sensitive and atmospheric novel about love, family, friendship - and personal entanglements in the years 1935 to 1945.

Lothar dreams of flying. Just a young boy, his mother Merle can only watch helplessly as his dream of freedom drives her son into the arms of the Hitler Youth. A new era has dawned. As much as Merle distrusts it, she cannot escape it - not in her bookshop, not in her conversations with Eugen, the feature writer for the local newspaper in Ginsterburg. But while some fall silent and some slowly allow themselves to be corrupted, others know how to use the new distribution of power in their favour. Florist Gürckel rises to the position of district leader, factory owner Jungheinrich does excellent business, and doctor Hansemann also senses completely new opportunities. Heinz Rühmann continues to play in the cinema and the Silver Arrows race round and round the Nürburgring. But the war, fought on distant fronts, can soon be felt in the microcosm of the town, in the shattered relationships and souls of the people. And hovering over everything is a British bomber pilot who is inexorably approaching the once tranquil town of Ginsterburg.

Arno Frank was born in 1971 in Kaiserslautern, and is a writer and freelance journalist. He writes for numerous publications including »taz«, »Die Zeit«, »Spiegel Online«, »Dummy«, »Fluter« and »Musikexpress«. He lives with his family in Wiesbaden, Germany. His previous books, »So und jetzt kommst du/Your Turn« and »Seemann vom Siebener/Headfirst« (2023), have received critical acclaim and recommendations from the jury of New Books in German.

»Simply the most humane book ever [...] we get to know people, we suffer with them, we love with them, and I cried at the end.« Florian Valerius, ARD-Buffet, about »Seemann vom Siebener«