Instead of Looking Out the Window

How quiet does it have to be for you to hear yourself again?

Sophie is stuck – stuck on the hamster wheel of study and achievement, stuck in a deadly dull internship. But everyone agrees she is destined for great things. It's just that even Sophie herself doesn't know what these things are. And so, on a whim, she goes online, finds a dilapidated old house in the east German countryside and buys it for a song. Unfortunately the renovation work turns out to be a lot more difficult than it looks on YouTube. And what is she supposed to do with all the long hours of silence between the days? But eventually, here amid the fields and the shimmering light, Sophie finally starts to cast off other people’s expectations and ask herself: what do I really want? And why?

#16 SPIEGEL Bestseller (Hardcover list)

A captivating novel about courage, doubt and the quietest wonders of life

Poetic, true to life, hopeful: for fans of Caroline Wahl, Mariana Leky and Dörte Hansen

English sample translation available