Leuchtende Schatten

A friendship between Ella and Harriet begins with an accident by the lake. The two girls, raised in very different environments, share an immediate, sensual familiarity – yet Harriet harbors a secret that she keeps from her best friend for a long time. Alongside the truth about Harriet's past, Ella faces a profound loss. The political events of 1943 and 1944 in Transylvanian Sibiu force the girls to make a swift and harsh farewell to childhood. The family history, vividly portrayed with its characters, is marked by contrasts: the seductive power of a destructive ideology, a sense of tradition, and a longing for stability. Houses, streets, and nature serve as refuges and spaces of identity, yet they also reflect the end of an era. In the face of the impending dissolution of a centuries-old culture, courage for life, humorous pragmatism, and the will to find happiness stand in opposition. Ultimately, Ella keeps her time with Harriet vividly present, for happiness is not negated by suffering, and the experience of loss makes the memory shine even brighter. In her second novel, Iris Wolff tells poetically and with impressive ease about the inviolability of freedom, friendship, and love in the time between childhood and adulthood.