Arielle Freytag is in her early thirties, and she has “made it”. She grew up in Katernberg, a derived neighbourhood in the city of Essen, but now has a highly paid job as a social media manager in Dusseldorf – until a bout of depression throws her off course and she ends up spending time in a “lunatic asylum”. No sooner has she returned home than she gets a call from Katernberg, and for the first time in 12 years she goes back to the place where she grew up. Two girls from the neighbourhood have been missing for days – a painful reminder to Arielle of her own mother, who disappeared without trace 24 years ago.
When her mother disappeared, Arielle was left behind with her eccentric grandmother. She doesn’t know who her father is, and her dark curly hair is only a vague clue: Italian, Turkish, Croatian? As the desperate search for the two Katernberg girls continues, Arielle starts to ask herself painful questions – questions she feels an ever more pressing need to find answers to. Did her mother abandon her, or did she leave against her will?
“German literature has been waiting for this perspective for far too long.” WDR 5
“With great realism, Lisa Roy paints a picture of a post-migrant society in which emancipation and equality of opportunity are completely illusory.” Kamala Dubrovnik, in her speech at the 2021 Rolf Dieter Brinkmann Grant award ceremony
“When you can’t escape a story, it’s best to plunge headlong into it. That is Lisa Roy’s talent; nobody is spared, because only in this way can empathy and solidarity be created.” Ulrich Peltzer
