Villa Sternbald or the Bluriness of the Years
‘Perhaps the story ought to begin with the children.’
After a long period of absence, Nikolas Finck – the son of a manufacturer of school furniture – returns to his parents’ home. One weekend turns into a year. Holed up in the attic at the Villa Sternbald, he delves into his family’s past and begins to tell his story: his childhood and his first love, the invention of the Columba school desk and the tragic entomologist Jean. When an exhibition on ‘Classrooms Through the Ages’ is set up in the house, he gets in the way. Just as he did in the past, Nikolas is pursuing his own plans – he aims to bring the darker side of the family’s history to light, but most of all he wants to protect his nephews’ childhood.
A novel about memory and lies, love and German guilt – multi-layered, epic in depth and mesmerisingly told.
- Monika Zeiner’s debut The Alignment of the Stars Above Como was shortlisted for the German Book Prize, nominated for the aspekte Literary Prize, and received the Audience Award at lit.COLOGNE
- For readers of Hervé Le Tellier and Iris Wolff, Julia Franck and Jonathan Franzen
Monika Zeiner, born in 1971, studied Romance Studies and Theatre in Berlin and Naples. She has written radio plays and texts for the theatre and received several grants for her literary work. She now lives in Berlin.
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