A young woman is asked to climb into a box and let herself be cut in half. The old trick is what the magician plans to practice with his new assistant at home, where his wife is watching everything. Judith Hermann's novel Home begins with this almost thriller-like episode from the protagonist's past. Cut. The heroine leaves her previous life behind and moves into her own house by the sea. She writes short letters to her ex-husband, cautiously forms friendships, tries a romantic relationship, and contemplates what comes next. Everything flows slowly; the star author of this book is known for not rushing anywhere. She tells the story of a woman who gradually becomes someone else in the coastal landscape. She explores memory and the moment in a person's life when a transition occurs, where the old gives birth to the new. Between the words, she lets something elusive flow through and radiates an irresistible slowness that many of us have long been missing. For the novel Home, Judith Hermann was nominated in 2021 for the German Book Prize and the Leipzig Book Fair Prize, among others.
