The mother of an almost four-year-old lies on the bed without her child, without his father, alone in an AirBnB, just her and a portion of crispy roasted duck, which she looks sadly at from the cardboard bowl. Actually, the child's father, the ex-boyfriend, has moved here, for the time being. "The melancholy of duck crispy," she thinks to herself, "nice title."

Maria Wiesner

Coordinator "Style".

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Fridtjof Küchemann

Editor in the feuilleton.

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The narrator in Judith Poznan's new novel "Aufrappeln" is not only named after her author, she also writes books, and she only understands herself when she writes.

From next door, "Runaway Train" comes through the wall in this AirBnB, and "the red-painted walls tell me," writes Judith Poznan, "if I'm honest with myself, then I have to be prepared for the fact that I might not like what I have to say to myself." – "At some point," it continues, "I'll dare to get out of there again. Getting drunk and dating men. Yes! Life is not over, it just changes direction. Just its direction."

What does it mean for a young mother, for a young family, for a small child, when the familiar trio breaks apart and you have to settle in and find your way around in a pendulum model? How do you look at your own parents in such a situation, and how do they look back on their children as young parents? Where does it hurt everywhere, and how does Judith Poznan manage to capture the comedy, the absurd, the wit of so many moments, despite all the unadornedness of what is being told?

We invited the writer to the book podcast to talk to her about her novel, about life in a family that no longer exists and yet still exists, about understanding each other and writing. Finally, there is a new literary puzzle, the solution from April and the name of the winner.

"Aufrappeln" by Judith Poznan has been published by DuMont, has 208 pages and costs 22 euros.

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