A Different Time

Sisters Enne and Suse grow up in a village in Western Pomerania in the 1970s, where there is not much but the bicycle ferry to Usedom and which is so remote that visitors sometimes fear that they could »trip over the edge«. Suse is a sickly child and Enne has to take a back seat because their parents’ care and attention is primarily focused on Suse – which puts tension on the relationship between the two sisters. They share but a few moments of closeness.

When Hungary opens its borders in 1989, Suse seizes the opportunity and leaves for the West. She is never heard from again, and for decades the family puzzles over what has become of her. Enne tries to become an actress in Berlin, but the big breakthrough fails to materialise and so she returns to her native village. Thirty years after Suse’s disappearance, a mysterious Mrs. Pohl moves in across the street from Enne, and slowly in time rumours about who she might really be are spreading…

In her new novel, Helga Bürster tells the story of a woman who stayed. And she talks about the aftermath of German reunification, about disappearing and staying, about identity and the loss thereof.

»a quiet, very moving novel about leaving and returning« Katja Eßbach, NDR, Book of the Month

»a mysterious and gripping family story« Barbara Raudszus, Egotrip.de