Adriana Altaras leads a normal, chaotic and unorthodox life in Berlin with two football-mad sons and a German husband who stoically tolerates her Jewish neuroses. She has an eternally nagging, constantly lovesick friend who announces he’s going to emigrate to Israel every few months. So things couldn’t be better…
… until her parents die and she inherits an apartment that hasn’t been cleared out for over 40 years. Overwhelmed, she struggles to sift through her parents’ curious estates, discovers poignant letters and ancient photos. Not only turbulent family secrets come to light but her dibbuks, Jewish ghosts of her passed away relatives, also start to tell their own stories.
With sharp wit and enormous compassion, Adriana Altaras weaves together past and present. She portrays two dissimilar sisters, a father who always wanted to be a hero, and a mother who was boundlessly energetic but lonely. In her literary debut she writes about exile, bizarre Jewish ceremonies, a burst Italian donkey and a dust allergy brought on by German television – and about the many fascinating elements that make up life.
An extraordinary family saga which transverses Europe and the turbulent 20th century, arriving back in the present day to deliver a smart, clear-sighted assessment of our times. Irresistibly funny, moving and memorable.
