Rattled by the Wind

In Berlin, four girlfriends are searching for love, and for real life. Surely, now that they've reached their mid-thirties, it's finally going to start happening for them? But instead, all four are at odds with themselves because they are afraid of failure.

Yoko is an architect from Japan, successful and self-assured. She only ever needs a man for one night. But she is on the run – from her family, and from the death of her father. Friederike is a nature-lover and a bookworm, but she is also in love with a man who unfortunately only loves one thing: his freedom. So she's a long way from her dream of being married and having her thesis done by the time she was 20. Alison always seems a bit distracted – for her, there are no certainties. Maybe she has a doppelganger. Maybe she only thinks Victor is the love of her life. Or maybe he's disappeared while on a business trip to Japan. Only one thing is certain: she follows him into the tangle of confusion that is Tokyo. Siri is beautiful, vibrant, and miserable. She has a son and a perfect husband who does everything for her, and she despises him for it. When her seventy-year-old grandmother does what she doesn't dare to do, and leaves her husband, Siri's shaky world collapses completely. Does the older generation really have more courage than the younger set?

With wit, melancholy and intelligence, Annika Reich accurately portrays a generation that wants something new but is faced with the same old questions. In the end, the four women come to a realisation: they can still support one another even if they don't agree on some things. Ultimately, everyone has to learn to live their own way.

"Her work has a power born of terror, but at the same time it is rich in beauty and a great joy for the reader." (Frankfurter Allgemeine am Sonntag)