Monika Helfer, DIE BAGAGE: on the shortlist for the Austrian Book Award 2020, sold to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland!

To see this small beauty of a novel last on the German bestseller for weeks on end is fantastic – don’t miss Monika Helfer’s DIE BAGAGE!

Rights just sold to Denmark, to Norway, Sweden and Finland.

»How Monika Helfer arranges episodes with front and back flashes telling of the fate of an outsider is simply masterful. Even though Austrian literature from Thomas Bernhard to Peter Handke is full of village dramas, she succeeds to set her own accents.« Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

  • shortlisted for the Austrian Book Award 2020
  • 34 weeks on the bestseller list
  • more than 100.000 hardcovers sold
  • right sold to China (Yilin), Czech Republic (Prostor), Denmark (Palomar), Finland (Huippu), France (Albin Michel), Israel (Hakibbutz Hameuchad), Italy (Keller), Netherlands (Nieuw Amsterdam), Norway (Solum Forlag), Sweden (Lindelöws), Spain (Edhasa Argentina)

»There are many family sagas, but this one is something very special – a book to be remembered! In just 160 pages the author develops an impressive, rich story about the make-up of families and relationships. A wonderful novel that inspires readers to think about their own family constellations.« Denis Scheck, Druckfrisch

This novel draws its impressive narrative strength from the ambivalence of close family ties and the distance of time.” Johannes Bruggaier, Südkurier

This is a slim book. But you can spend a long time reading it. Every sentence has a hazy, indescribable beauty.” Alexander Solloch, NDR Kultur

Monika Helfer’s great drama takes place at a cross-section of world events. It is narrated with a warmth that is transferred to the family it portrays, and a calm that illuminates many aspects. What’s on your reading list this spring? Riff-raff certainly should be.“ Martin Oehlen, Kölner Stadtanzeiger

Although Monika Helfer’s text is as stark as the Moosbruggers’ soil is barren: there isn’t onesuperfluous word and no overblown description. And yet, even her most inconspicuous charactersare alive and vivid. Helfer achieves this in the space of very few pages.” Ulrich Rüdenauer, Süddeutsche Zeitung

With her clear, straightforwardly beautiful language, Helfer effortlessly manages to avoid any pathos.” Carsten Otte, SWR2 Lesenswert