6 More Unmissable Swiss Books (2017)
MAISER
(THE CORN MAN)
FABIANO ALBORGHETTI
GENRE Verse Novel
PAGES 240
PUBLISHER Marcos y Marcos, Milan 2017
ISBN 9788871687933
TRANSLATION RIGHTS Livia Del Pino, rights@marcosymarcos.com
Maiser is written in the unusual format of a verse novel, and tells the story of a family of Italian immigrants to Switzerland. It takes place from the mid-20th century – the 1950s – up to the present day. The poetry develops into a social narrative – the story of one individual but with universal relevance for us all.
XXXVERSXXIONS
(XXPROFESSXXXAL)
CHARLES HERSPERGER
GENRE Novel
PAGES 100
PUBLISHER art&fiction, Lausanne 2016
ISBN 978-2-940377-96-1
TRANSLATION RIGHTS Marie-Claire Grossen, marie-claire.grossen@artfiction.ch
An anthropologist, who has broken with the conventions of academia, is invited to continue his research work, far from home as a member of a supposedly alternative institute. Once there, he meets a controversial activist artist, who turns up occasionally amongst those who frequent the institute, and who is preparing a major exhibition of his recent work.
Their meeting rapidly develops into a semi-secret relationship, and becomes an exploration of the human potential created by such chance encounters.
LANZ
(LANCE)
FLURIN JECKER
GENRE Novel
PAGES 128
PUBLISHER Nagel & Kimche, Zürich 2017
ISBN 978-3-312-01022-6
TRANSLATION RIGHTS Altas Agency, Katharina Altas, literatur@agenturaltas.ch
Lance – a 14-year old schoolboy – is tasked with writing a blog for his weekly project. To begin with he resists, but then he launches into an unsparing exposé of his whole life: his parents’ separation, the sterility of his childhood in a small village, his problems with growing up…and, above all, his failure to get together with Lynn, who is the whole reason he signed up for the blogging course in the first place.
FLEISCH
(FLESH)
SIMONE MEIER
GENRE Novel
PAGES 256
PUBLISHER Kein & Aber, Zürich 2017
ISBN 978-3-0369-5754-8
TRANSLATION RIGHTS Lisa Mühlemann, lmuehlemann@keinundaber.ch
Anna and Max are in their mid-40s; they went to school together and stayed together afterwards out of convenience. But then Anna falls in love for the first time with a woman, 27-year old Lilly. And Max falls for Lilly’s housemate, Sue, who, however, will only sleep with him for money. Lilly, for her part, has to deal with her young brother, who is driving their parents and his teacher to despair – though she doesn’t give up on Anna. This is a humorous story told with relish, about people struggling to reconcile youth and growing old.
WAS ALLES WAR
(WHAT THERE WAS)
ANNETTE MINGELS
GENRE Novel
PAGES 288
PUBLISHER Knaus, Munich 2017
ISBN 978-3-8135-0755-3
TRANSLATION RIGHTS Gesche Wendebourg, gesche.wendebourg@randomhouse.de
For her parents, Susa was the child they had long yearned for and so she wanted for nothing. It never bothered her that she was adopted. As a grown woman, though, she feels somewhat curious about her natural mother; but when she gets to know Viola, she remains a stranger to her. But their meeting sets more in motion than she realises. The question as to what constitutes a family takes on a new significance for Susa, especially when she falls in love with Henryk, who brings two daughters with him into their relationship.
NUES DANS UN VERRE D’EAU
(NAKED IN A GLASS OF WATER)
FANNY WOBMANN
GENRE Novel
PAGES 160
PUBLISHER Flammarion, Paris 2017
ISBN 9782081395527
TRANSLATION RIGHTS Florence Giry, fgiry@flammarion.fr
There were two of them, at two moments in time, far removed from real life. One – the grandmother – is gently slipping away in a hospital ward. The other – Laura – is pregnant, and for the time being keeping her pregnancy secret. Remarkably, they find themselves taking the same path and soon wanting the same thing: each other’s company. During visiting hours, in spite of their heavy silences and restrained gestures, they win each other over and lay themselves bare. Their story is less about self-disclosure, but more about each of them abandoning some of their modesty in order to offer each other a small but valuable piece of their life.
