Meine Schwiegermutter, der Mondmann und ich

In November 1953, the future mother-in-law of the narrator documents the romantic pursuits of her classmate H., who plunges her into questions and self-doubt with his intentions. Sixty years later, the records are found among her posthumous papers in her Zurich apartment. The narrator recalls her mother-in-law's words: "You could also write a book about me." Thus begins this novel with the first lines from the mother-in-law's notes on her 22nd birthday: "For several weeks, I have been in a very complicated dilemma and now want to try to gain some clarity about myself through the writing of this story."

Connected to the narrator's story (and the Moon Man) is also the "personal life report" of her ancestor Hans Conrad Escher, an engineer and builder of the Linth Canal. In his retrospective for the children, the son of a Zurich citizen vividly recounts, based on his own experiences, how a romantic pursuit can succeed—and how it can lead to the brink. "Should I flee?" he wonders just before the wedding. His "intimate friendship" with his bride prevents him from doing so. However, the "whims and passion" of the young woman present him with unforeseen challenges. Can he be believed when he ultimately concludes that everything has developed "quite systematically"?

This uniquely composed novel draws the reader into love stories spanning two centuries and caters to a certain longing—for a past, seemingly simpler bourgeois world—whose premises radically challenge gender relations. Brigitte Helbling succeeds in weaving the fates and historical material into a wonderful, gripping literary text.