First published 2023
Katharina meets Hans by chance in East Berlin during the late 1980s. She is nineteen. He is a married writer in his fifties. What begins as an unexpected encounter becomes a passionate but turbulent affair that spans years. Their relationship unfolds as the German Democratic Republic crumbles around them. Katharina watches the only world she has known disappear in 1989, while navigating the complexities of loving an older, married man. As the political system collapses and a new reality emerges, Katharina must grow up fast. She struggles to understand both her difficult romance and the vanishing ideology that once defined her country. The personal and political intertwine as two lovers try to find their footing when everything familiar evaporates. This is a story about coming of age when history itself is being rewritten.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: East Berlin, Germany
Period: 1980s
306 pages · ebook · New Directions