In September 1998, the S. Fischer Collection published a book that changed the literary landscape: «Summerhouse, Later». Stories such as «Red Coral» and «Hunter Thompson Music» have left their mark on an entire generation of readers and accompanied them for years.
In nine luminous stories of love and loss, loneliness and hope, Judith Hermann‘s stunning debut collection paints a vivid and poignant picture of a generation ready and anxious to turn their back on the past, to risk uncertainty in search of a fresh, if fragile, equilibrium. An international bestseller and translated into thirty languages, Summerhouse, Later heralds the arrival of one of Germany’s most arresting literary talents.
A restless man hopes to find permanence in the purchase of a summerhouse outside Berlin. A young girl, trapped in a paralyzing web of family stories and secrets, finally manages to break free. A granddaughter struggles to lay her grandmother’s ghosts to rest. A successful and simplistic artist becomes inexplicably obsessed with an elusive and strangely sinister young girl.
Marcel Reich-Ranicki recognized Judith Hermann as a new outstanding author and predicted great success for her; Hellmuth Karasek spoke of the «sound of a new generation». A literary «Fräuleinwunder» was born.
In the last 25 years the book has emancipated itself from such attributions and from the patronising benevolence of the male dominated publishing industry; it has become an icon.