First published 2009
In the 1920s, Klara receives a beautiful wooded property beside a lake near East Berlin. This small paradise becomes her retreat from the city's growing chaos. Jenny Erpenbeck traces what happens to this forest refuge and the people who seek shelter there across nearly a century. The woods serve as a peaceful escape during Hitler's rise to power, then transform into a wartime hideout. Soviet cavalry horses later graze in its clearings. Waves of refugees pass through during times of exodus and retreat. After the Berlin Wall falls, the property becomes valuable real estate. Erpenbeck investigates the fate of this childhood refuge where she spent every summer, revealing how each temporary resident forms a deep connection to this sanctuary. Through brief, lyrical episodes, she captures the stories of those who found solace in Klara's woods while history unfolded around them.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, lyrical
Tropes: found-family, sanctuary
Setting: East Berlin, Berlin
Period: 1920s, World War II
192 pages · Paperback · ACTES SUD