A sleep researcher who can’t sleep. Dreams that spill over into reality. An old man struggling to make amends.

DER LÄNGSTE SCHLAF
(The Longest Sleep)
by Melanie Raabe
btb/PRH Germany, September 2024

In young scientist Mara Lux’s life, practically everything revolves around sleep. She lives in London, and is a leading scholar in the field – but has herself been tortured by insomnia for years. She’s scared of her dreams, because they have an uncanny habit of blurring with reality. Which is particularly tough for Mara, because she’s nothing if not rational, and likes to be in control.

Mara’s parents died a long time ago, and she hardly ever visits Germany, so she’s surprised when she learns from a notary that someone wants to give her a big, old villa as a gift – anonymously. Mara thinks it must be a case of mistaken identity. Still, she’s curious, and decides to check it out. When she arrives in the small town she’s never heard of, she discovers that the place has somehow been in her dreams all along…

For fans of Lauren Groff, Mariana Leky, Alex Schulman and Ewald Arenz

Melanie Raabe was born in 1981. After her studies she worked as a journalist during the day and secretly wrote books at night. The Trap was published in 2015, followed by The Truth in 2016, The Shadow in 2018, and The Woods in 2019. Her novel Die Kunst des Verschwindens (‘The Art of Disappearing’, 2022) was her first thriller. Her books have been translated into 22 languages so far, and many have been adapted for the screen.