Woher wir kommen

After loss, life begins anew. Ada, a painter, has just started creating entirely new paintings following the suicide of her boyfriend when suddenly three lively children and her childhood friend Jonas burst into her life. Her mother, Martha, had to come to terms with the fact that her husband disappeared without a trace in the Ararat Mountains along with his Kurdish friend Vedat. Since then, she meets once a year with Vedat's wife, Lale, to remember their men together, as they have no place to grieve.

Lilofee, the aunt, had hidden a prisoner of war in the mountains when she was a young girl and had to witness how he, her great love, was betrayed and taken away. She will never be able to forget that, but she seeks revenge.

Barbara Frischmuth tells with wisdom and her own unique, sovereign lightness that never lets one forget the unbearable, how each of these women must learn to live in the present and allow love again. One of the most dangerous questions is: What if? This is where every story begins.

This artfully composed, buoyantly melancholic book deals with dreams, realism, and literature. – Der Standard.

A compositionally bold novel filled with sensual details, crystal-clear political analyses, and moving stories. – Neue Zürcher Zeitung.