A haunting, offbeat novella of real profundity
- Lionel Shriver, author of WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN,
With the detached spare prose and mysterious internal logic of a fairy tale, the writing has a dark, transformative power - it gets into the blood stream and refuses to leave. Beguiling and original
The Times
Intense and beautifully written
Time Out
Erpenbeck excels as miniaturist, examining the psychology of her blank-eyed outsider with language as sharp as a scalpel
Guardian
The kind of stories that enter the imagination by stealth ... Like dysfunctional fairy tales, these beautifully written stories explore the shifting sands of memory and identity
Belfast Telegraph
Don't try to learn too much about the origins of these two spare and spooky novellas before you submit to their uncanny mood ... What lies beyond ambiguity, in Susan Bernofsky's pin-sharp translations, is Erpenbeck's power to grip, chill - and haunt
- Boyd Tonkin, Independent
These two novellas showcase Erpenbeck's disconcerting material and her pared-down style ... The subtle interplay of childish interpretation and adult euphemism, gradually unravelling its grim meaning is thoroughly chilling
- James Urquhart, Financial Times