True friendship in the midst of the Second World War.
SAG ALEX, ER SOLL NICHT AUF MICH WARTEN
(Tell Alex Not to Wait for Me)
by Irene Diwiak
C. Bertelsmann/PRH Germany, February 2023
Munich, 1941. Students Hans and Alex don’t seem to have much in common – until, one day, they both duck out of military training to discuss art and literature instead of practice standing to attention. From that day on, they are close friends, and Hans is a welcome guest at Alex’s « discussion parties ». But war is their constant companion, and the urge to speak out against it grows ever stronger within both of them. Their plans are risky, especially when Hans’s younger sister, who mustn’t at any cost find out about their intentions – moves to Munich…
Diwiak tells the true story of a unique friendship, a story of the White Rose resistance group that for once doesn’t deal with its end, but with its fascinating beginning – moving, intelligent and accessible.
Irene Diwiak, born in in Graz, Austria, in 1991, has won several awards for her literary works and plays, and her 2017 debut « Liebwies » was shortlisted for the Austrian Book Prize (First Novel Award). Her second novel, Malvita, appeared in 2020.
San Francisco. Robyn, a young and ambitious journalist, is shocked when the police show up on her doorstep. Her ex-boyfriend Julian has been reported missing. At a single stroke, the past comes flooding back: the longing, the pain, the disappointment… Robyn thought she had put it all behind her. She’s deeply worried about Julian. What could have happened? Robyn seeks help from her best friend, Cooper – though she has long felt much more for him than that. When the police suspect Cooper of having something to do with Julian’s disappearance, she doesn’t know what to believe, or what to feel. Who can she trust? Can she even trust herself?
Heniek and Andrzeij live in a small town in Poland. One is a mechanic, the other a carpenter, and both are about to retire. They have never had the urge to see the world, but one day they leave their home town of Gajerudki and head west down the A2, the « Motorway to Freedom ». They’re trying to track down Beatka, who has left Heniek after 36 years of marriage to start a new life in the Netherlands. They’ve taken the Mercedes they were meant to fix for a customer, and when they don’t have enough money to fill it with proper fuel, they use cooking oil instead. After an accident involving a herd of deer, the two friends continue their journey on foot. Along the way, they find out things they never knew about each other, including some dark secrets – and when they encounter a European bison, they face a reckoning with their past.
Red fur, amber eyes, a bushy tail: foxes are incredibly beautiful animals. We also think of them as intelligent, shrewd and playful. Yet foxes are not just smart: they have an extraordinary gift for empathy and are excellent communicators. They have a capacity for altruism and self-sacrifice, foster close emotional relationships, and are affectionate partners and loving parents. Foxes prove that you can achieve more through constructive debate than aggression, that smarts and flexibility can get us what we want, and that selflessness benefits everyone in the end.
No wonder we love trees so much. Even just a short stroll through a park or woodland helps us breathe easier and replenish our energy resources, and looking up into the leafy canopy above your head can help clear your mind. But beeches, yews, etc. also have a darker side: they commit all sorts of nefarious deeds, and are willing to poison, mutilate and kill to gain the advantage over their neighbours. In