Alice
ABOUT
THE BOOK
When someone very close to you dies your whole life changes. Everything is different. Alice is the central figure in these five inter-connected narratives, which tell of her life at times of loss. Suddenly it is no longer possible to say what the person looked like, how he spoke, cursed, smiled, how he lived his life. Objects are left behind, books, letters, pictures and every now and again you think you can see them in a crowd. Judith Hermann tells of days of transition, of waiting, of holding on and letting go – and of how clear and dazzling such days can sometimes be.Alice is a book of extraordinary power and great literary beauty from one of Europe’s finest writers.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Margot
Bettauer Dembo
Margot Bettauer Dembo (10 January 1928 – 10 July 2019) was a German-born American translator of fiction and non-fiction. She translated writing from German to English, and is known for her translations of works by Judith Hermann, Robert Gernhardt, Joachim Fest, Ödön von Horvath, Feridun Zaimoglu, and Hermann Kant. Her work has won her the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize and the Goethe-Institut/Berlin Translator’s Prize. She has translated multiple non-fiction memoirs and historical accounts of World War II, as well as several works of fiction.
Margot Bettauer Dembo (10 January 1928 – 10 July 2019) was a German-born American translator of fiction and non-fiction. She translated writing from German to English, and is known for her translations of works by Judith Hermann, Robert Gernhardt, Joachim Fest, Ödön von Horvath, Feridun Zaimoglu, and Hermann Kant. Her work has won her the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize and the Goethe-Institut/Berlin Translator’s Prize. She has translated multiple non-fiction memoirs and historical accounts of World War II, as well as several works of fiction.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
A book of literary beauty and remarkable power from one of Germany’s finest writers. Alice is the central character in the five interconnected episodes, which tell of her life at times of death of five men who are related to her either by love or blood.
A wonderfully written voyage across love and loss through five interconnected stories.