Die Lücken

Die Lücken (The Gaps) is narrated by a dead woman whose vantage point lets the story move freely through almost a hundred years of history in the village of Heimesbach. In a kaleidoscopic structure that jumps between eras, it combines invented characters with historical figures, some of whom are given a voice of their own. The novel looks at neighbours who watched Jewish residents disappear from the streets, and asks whether people with a history of migration are allowed to feel at home. The German Book Prize jury called it a novel against indifference.