In her best novel, Austrian writer Monica Helfer describes the history of her own family with remarkable sincerity and frankness. She does not take it upon herself to judge anyone; her pen is guided by love, and the highest justice is served by truth. The word "baggage" in German has a second, disapproving meaning, akin to our "a suitcase without a handle" - this term is used to describe people who cause a lot of trouble.
Monica Helfer herself comes from such a "baggage". The narrative centers around events from 1914 to 1920, but when the author mentions some child from the "baggage" family, she casually refers to their future destiny. As a result, we get a more or less complete biography of each character involved.
Thanks to this, everything "happens one next to the other, although one after the other, like in a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder".
It is astonishing how much cosmos of complex images Monica Helfer managed to fit into this small book. The characters, outlined in a few precise strokes, come to life before us and are memorable.
"Tagesszeitung"
Freely moving between fictional and autobiographical events, Monica Helfer writes with admirable expressiveness about how each of us carries our own burden and inevitably loads it onto our descendants.
"Süddeutsche Zeitung"
A work of high quality, gracefully transitioning from one time to another, establishing a strong connection between them.
"Tagesspiegel"
