Emma im Spiegel

Sucor or shadow container is the Old High German word for mirror and indicates that a mirror is more than just a projection surface for one’s own appearance or a tool for expressing one’s vanity. Thus, the mirror, on which Emma, the protagonist of this narrative, condenses her entire life from childhood to maturity, becomes a metaphor for the unspeakable and unspoken, for the things that happen under the apparent protection of night or when the child is left to herself. These events often occur when the uncle is on vacation during the summer, but their effects extend far beyond that time and, like the tentacles of an octopus, threaten to ensnare the girl wherever she is and bind her forever. Decades later, after the dissolution of her parental home, the mirror finds its place in the garden and becomes for Emma a tool of ruthlessly honest self-reflection and self-awareness. Will she succeed in freeing herself from the shadows of the past that the mirror has preserved? Despite all the shadow themes: With Emma in the mirror, Renate Hohmann has created a narrative of great poetry and atmospheric density. One hopes for the book to reach a wide audience.