Emil Bub, a schoolteacher, and his wife Veronika, a librarian, have lived in the residential area ‘Am Schwarzen Berg’ of the south-west German city of Stuttgart since the 70’s. When Hajo and Carla Rau move in next door, the Bubs, who have no children of their own, form a strong attachment to their seven-year-old son Peter, lavishing attention on him.

From that point forward, both couples’ worldviews, predilections and aspirations shape the life of this impressionable youth. Emil in particular draws Peter deep into his world of poetry and underachievement.

Many years later, Emil Bub, now on the edge of retirement, watches from his balcony as an adult Peter moves back into his parents’ house. Peter is bedraggled and unwell; his girlfriend Mia has run off, taking their children with her. This loss has sent him reeling. That summer, in the lonely houses at the edge of the Forest, the two elderly couples try in vain to get the distraught Peter back on track.

Following the success of her novel Kürzere Tage (Shorter Days), nominated for the 2009 German Book Prize, with over 70.000 copies sold – one of »the best German-language novels, not just of our time but in general« (WDR) – Anna Katharina Hahn’s latest novel, Black Mountain Side, was nominated for the prestigious Leipzig Book Fair Prize even before its publication. With »rare understanding of human nature and an equally profound understanding of human society« (Die Zeit), Hahn tells the story of desperate love in all its guises, of emotional prosthetics, and of how, when it comes down to it, even the people closest to us remain a mystery.

My Mother's Dress