So here we all are

Sixteen-year-old Benny is lying unconscious in hospital after an accident. Gathered around his bed is a group of people who don’t normally have a lot to do with each other: his family. A novel about the people we can’t choose but who nevertheless play a major role in determining our lives.

The relationship between Ines and Paul is more than a little strained. They really never intended to meet again … but now they find themselves standing at Benny’s bedside, looking down at their son who has been raised by his grandparents Ferdinand and Else. Old wounds are reopened and conflicts that everyone thought long forgotten flare up anew.

Bernd Schroeder has written a novel that concerns us all. Laced with wit and irony, his poignant narrative describes all the people reunited by the accident: relatives and friends, their memories and disagreements, new jealousies and old conflicts. And we find ourselves wondering who will be waiting for Benny when he finally emerges from his coma …