Otto

Two sisters – and a father who is more than enough for a family.

In her debut novel, Dana von Suffrin explores what it means when a stubborn Jewish family patriarch becomes a burden. And how difficult it is to say goodbye to someone you’ve actually wanted to get rid of your whole life.

For those around him, Otto, the retired engineer, has always been a trial. But when he returns from the hospital, everything is even worse. He remains hot-tempered, manipulative, intrusive, and filled with outrageous ideas – but now he is also in need of care. He makes it unmistakably clear to his adult daughters: I demand that you be there for me. Always! For Timna and Babi, a year full of unexpected challenges begins, but also one of confronting their own past and family history, which is so bizarre that outsiders can only shake their heads. Clever, loving, and filled with a lot of dark humor, Dana von Suffrin tells the story of how Timna tries to hold her dysfunctional family together without falling apart herself. “Otto” is both a tribute and a reckoning with a man whose Jewish biography reflects all the abysses of the 20th century.