Better Than Anywhere Else

It starts like a road movie: Martin and his best friend Noah are driving along the autobahn in a rented van. Their cargo: the spear of the bronze Athena on König Square in Munich, a trophy of an ecstatic summer’s night. Six hours later they are back at the places of their childhood: The play streets, the fennel fields, the gravel quarry they left behind years ago. Mugo is back too, smart, angry Mugo who always dreamed about escaping the backwoods and infected Martin with that dream. She wanted to leave the small town, the apartment block with a view of the single-family homes and carports. Now she works at the petrol station on the outskirts of the town and doesn’t want anything to do with Martin. Even Noah becomes stranger in the familiar environment. Left to his own devices, Martin is forced to rethink his relationship with his origins.

In her debut novel, Kristin Höller talks about growing up, empathetic and witty: about vulnerability, curiosity, about love and anger, about big plans and the dead ends they often lead to. She talks about the determination of the mothers and the pressure of the fathers’ expectations, about the end of a friendship and the beauty of small-town train stations. Existential, comforting, captivating.

»[Kristin Höller] succeeds in displaying her literary skill time and again in brilliant scenes with funny dialogues […] On the search for answers to the big questions she lets her characters admit to their failures too in a very delicate and wise way.« Antje Weber, Süddeutsche Zeitung

»There is so much delicacy, truth and poetic originality in this debut novel, which that makes it more than just charming YA fiction to cuddle up with.« Martin Halter, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

»With her debut Better Than Anywhere Else, Kristin Höller presents a brilliant Let’s-get-out-of-here novel.« Anne Haeming, Spiegel Online

»A book that moves through you like a storm, maximally entertaining, funny and with the intoxicating groove of unspent literary energy!« literaturblatt.ch

»Kristin Höller manages to write a coming of age story that strikes a chord with readers. […] The book, often oscillating between melancholy and scathing humour, draws a very touching image of everyday life.« Ulf Engelmayer, StadtRadio Göttingen

»Kristin Höller writes with wit, warmth and a tendency towards detailed observations, with a penchant for opalescent details while constantly striving to find words even for absurd emotional impulses.« Wortgelüste

»existential, comforting, enchanting.« New Business

»With Martin, Kristin Höller has created a tangible and vivid character who is able to move the reader with his shy and sometimes child-like nature. You are sharing the thrill with him and want to encourage him to take control.« Sebastian Riemann, belletristik-couch.de