The second novel by Michael Kumpfmüller, based on an authentic case, deals with a taboo: The story of a young mother who becomes the murderer of her children by leaving them alone in their apartment where they die of starvation and thirst.
The author accompanies the woman for thirteen days and traces her murderous motif: What makes her act the way she does while the unspeakable is taking place in her apartment? The narrator keeps his matter-of-fact point of view and meticulously describes her daily activities: love affairs, shopping trips, and her failing attempts to return home to her dying children...T
he woman’s grueling failure gradually unfolds, yet one can hardly anticipate what lies underneath the surface.
Kumpfmüller’s book is an example of what literature is capable of – to create an awareness and sensitivity that is far from mere facts and psychological surveys.
