"The beginning of this story is furious. Terézia Mora uses a wonderful literarised informal language for her dialogues, pleasurably conveys bizarre events, and directly juxtaposes humour and despair. The strong appeal derives from what Flora has done and Kopp’s perception of his marriage. … There are many great passages, sensuously powerful descriptions, wonderfully morbid satire, and skilfully sketched minor characters; in particular there are many subplots, which in a variety of ways are evidence of how well and powerfully Terézia Mora can write." - Die Zeit
"Terézia Mora’s dark novel of two separated lives would not be such a great work were it not for its unique use of language, with which there is nothing to compare in contemporary German literature." - Neue Zürcher Zeitung
"Terézia Mora remains on the fine edge between convention and surprise and through this gives every protagonist in every situation a believable voice, and because of this one will read this novel with both detachment and empathy. And this is appropriate for Flora’s medical history. No one in past years has so persistently and artistically illuminated the fine shading between restlessness and sheer panic as has Mora." - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
"One of the most convincing attempts in German literature to reflect identity against the background of migration." - Spiegel Online
A man abandoned by his beloved sets out on a journey into her past
«There’s nothing special about such stories; they happen all the time: was once an engineer, lost his job, lost his wife, ended up on the streets.» A very ordinary fate, perhaps, but if it happens to you, you just cave in.
This is the position Darius Kopp is in, an IT specialist who first lost his job, then the great love of his life. For Flora, his wife, committed suicide, and ever since Darius has hardly been able to carry on. In the end, he gets into his car and travels first to Hungary, where Flora had grown up, and then just drives on and on. During his journey, he reads Flora’s secret diary he found after her death and discovers how monstrously vulnerable Flora’s life had always been – and that he hadn’t had a clue about any of it.
A man’s journey to look for the truth about his wife. About himself. And about this dark and monstrous world.