Shortlisted: The 6 German Novels That Made It!

This morning the shortlist to the German Book Award 2019 was announced and these are the six novels that made it:

Jackie Thomae, „Brüder“ (Hanser Berlin, August 2019) – Brothers tells the story of two German men, born in the same year to the same father, man they never meet, and who gave them nothing except their dark skin, which separates from everyone else in East Germany at the time. The issues the two men face are the same. But their lives couldn’t be more different. Two men. Two possibilities. Two lives. How we become the people we are.

Miku Sophie Kühmel, „Kintsugi“ (S. Fischer, August 2019) – Max and Reik have been a couple of twenty years, and for twenty years they’ve been envied. For their harmony, their special bond, how perfectly they complement one another. They’ve only invited their oldest friend Tonio and his daughter Pega to celebrate this anniversary hidden away at their weekend home. The lake is tranquil, still half under ice, the ground is hard with frost and sometimes a crane flies over the water. But it soon becomes clear that this weekend will be different. That the truth is a vague thing and difficult to grasp.

Norbert Scheuer, „Winterbienen“ (C.H.Beck, Juli 2019) – Germany, January 1944: Egidius Arimond, a laid off Latin and history teacher, is in permanent danger. Not just because of his love affairs or his epilepsy, but first and foremost, because of his daring attempts to rescue Jews by smuggling them across the Belgian border concealed in specially prepared beehives.

Tonio Schachinger, „Nicht wie ihr“ (Kremayr & Scheriau, September 2019)

Raphaela Edelbauer, „Das flüssige Land“ (Klett-Cotta, August 2019) 

Saša Stanišić, „Herkunft“ (Luchterhand, März 2019)

https://www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/nominiert/