Just as Paul Wendland is about to start a new life in Berlin with his unusual art projects (an exhibition with paintings by a blind artist), the past catches up with him. His grandfather’s historic house and his inheritance are threatening to sink into the moor – together with life-sized bronze statues of Luther, Bismarck, Max Schmeling and Ringo Starr.
The journey back to Worpswede, the town of his childhood, a legendary artists’ colony located in the menacing Teufelsmoor takes a fateful turn. While the house sinks into the moor, long-forgotten family issues and historical figures rise out of it. Bizarre, amusing as well as tragic stories appear and an encounter with a mysterious historian brings to light a network of lies and secrets spanning an entire century. For example: What happened to the beautiful Communist Marie? Was she arrested by the Gestapo or buried in the Teufelsmoor by her own family? And did Willy Brandt really visit Paul´s family and leave a piece of the famous North German butter cake which was preserved for eternity in the Wendland´s freezer? And will Ohlrogge ever manage to pay off the debts that he made when destroying his ex-girlfriend´s wedding by splattering everybody and everything with liquid manure?
Moritz Rinke touches gently but completely anarchically and with an arresting tragicomedy on the motifs and conflicts of his characters and their emotional abysses. He writes about the artists’ lives, about fame, seduction and transitoriness, and about a North Germany village that is famous for its skies and flat countryside. In this sensational debut novel, Rinke demonstrates his skills as a sophisticated composer of an exuberant, crazy reality.
