Der Vogel, der spazieren ging

Samuel Leiser is a lonely bird. His father Yehuda escaped the Nazis by pretending to be an author and was allowed to enter America as an artist – where he became the celebrated crime writer Jonathan Still. Now, Samuel is translating his books into German. Between the lines, he searches for and finds hidden messages. But what do they mean?

One summer in the early seventies, Samuel's precocious daughter Ashley moves from England to Paris to get to know him in peace. However, soon the small apartment becomes cramped: Samuel's ex-wife Letitia arrives with her father and new boyfriend for a visit. Unexpected guests linger longer than anticipated, even Yehuda flies in with his gangster relatives. Samuel cannot escape the turbulent family reunion filled with marriage vows and jealousy dramas, not even by falling in love with his Spanish teacher. For it is not only the people in his life who overwhelm him, but also their stories and inherited nightmares – leading to a furious finale.

The beauty of this novel stems directly from an overdose of wit, cheerfulness, and imagination.