Die Sehnsucht der Schwalbe

Summary: For a week, Lutfi must attend a wedding in a Syrian village. He would much rather be on his way back to Germany. Instead, he spends his time telling Barakat, the bride's brother, stories from his Arab childhood throughout the night. He also shares his exciting experiences in Germany, where he hopes to stay forever. The new novel by the great storyteller Rafik Schami.

About the author: Rafik Schami was born in 1946 in Damascus and has lived in Germany since 1971. He earned his doctorate in chemistry in 1979. His extensive body of work has been translated into 32 languages and has received numerous awards, including the Hermann Hesse Prize, the Nelly Sachs Prize, the "Against Forgetting - For Democracy" Prize, and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize. In the Hanser children's and youth book series, he has published titles such as "This is Not a Parrot" (illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch, 1994), "The Swallow's Longing" (2000), "How I Took Away Papa's Fear of Strangers" (2003, illustrated by Ole Könnecke), "The Camel Driver of Heidelberg" (2006, illustrated by Henrike Wilson), "The Heart of the Doll" (2012, illustrated by Kathrin Schärer), and "Master Mario's Story" (2013, illustrated by Anja Maria Eisen); in the adult program of the publisher, "The Dark Side of Love" (novel, 2004), "The Secret of the Calligrapher" (novel, 2008), "The Woman Who Sold Her Husband at the Flea Market" (2011), "Sophia or The Beginning of All Stories" (novel, 2015), and "The Cardinal's Secret Mission" (novel, 2019). In autumn 2019, his picture book "Elisa or The Night of Wishes" (illustrated by Gerda Raidt) will be released.