"From now on: Quiet" - this saying, which the restless children recited with their mother and which was supposed to guide them to sleep, hovers over Marion Brasch's family novel like a mantra.
Marion Brasch's irresistible novel tells the story of her extraordinary family. Her Jewish parents, who met in exile in London, established the existence of their young family in East Berlin, where the father wanted to realise his ideals as a politician after the war. While he became the GDR's deputy minister of culture, the three sons - who became famous writers, playwrights and actors - revolted against the authority of their father's generation and failed in the face of reality. The little sister sought reconciliation and balance and often enough came up against limits, including her own.
With surprising ease, Marion Brasch recounts the dramatic events of her family - success, revolt, loss of the three brothers - and follows their path through adventure and turmoil to their own freedom. She succeeds in creating a moving, often witty retrospective of her family's history, while at the same time recounting her own life in a country that no longer exists. It is the "grand narrative of a vanished world" called the GDR, which has led to numerous discussions, films and theatre productions about the Brasch family.
"Laconic and light, Marion Brasch tells of her path to her own freedom." Kristina Gründken, WDR 5
"A captivating book (...) If her brothers could still read it, they would be proud of their sister." Jochen Schmidt, Der Freitag
"In search of her own history, Marion Brasch has found her own voice: clear, transparent and very moving." Roger Willemsen
