20th century
A01=Svenja Leiber
art
Author_Svenja Leiber
bildungsroman
Category=FBA
Category=FYT
coming of age
communism
communist rebellion
connections
devotion
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_nobargain
expectations
fictional writings
german literature
germany
governmental power
historical fiction
important decisions
life story
literary works
music
musician
nazi
nazism
novels
second world war
seeing sound
sounds
super ability
supernatural
translated work
translations
uncanny gift
unexplained
violin
violinist
Product details
- ISBN 9781803090016
- Weight: 382g
- Dimensions: 128 x 208mm
- Publication Date: 25 May 2022
- Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Now in paperback, the epic tale of a violinist who must navigate the fractious world of early twentieth-century Germany.
“Ruven Preuk stands apart from the village, on an August day in 1911, and listens.” Thus begins an epic bildungsroman about the life of Ruven Preuk, son of the wainwright, child of a sleepy village in Germany’s north, where life is both simple and harsh.
Ruven, though, is neither. He has the ability to see sounds, leading him to discover an uncanny gift for the violin. When he meets a talented teacher in the Jewish quarter, Ruven falls under the spell of a prodigious future. But as the twentieth century looms, Ruven’s pursuit of his craft takes a turn. In The Last Country, Svenja Leiber spins a tale that moves from the mansions of a disappearing aristocracy to a communist rebellion, from a joyous village wedding to a Nazi official’s threats, from the First World War to the Second. As the world Ruven knows disappears, the gifted musician must grapple with an important question: to what end has he devoted himself to his art?
Winner of the 2015 Arno Reinfrank Literaturpreis
“Ruven Preuk stands apart from the village, on an August day in 1911, and listens.” Thus begins an epic bildungsroman about the life of Ruven Preuk, son of the wainwright, child of a sleepy village in Germany’s north, where life is both simple and harsh.
Ruven, though, is neither. He has the ability to see sounds, leading him to discover an uncanny gift for the violin. When he meets a talented teacher in the Jewish quarter, Ruven falls under the spell of a prodigious future. But as the twentieth century looms, Ruven’s pursuit of his craft takes a turn. In The Last Country, Svenja Leiber spins a tale that moves from the mansions of a disappearing aristocracy to a communist rebellion, from a joyous village wedding to a Nazi official’s threats, from the First World War to the Second. As the world Ruven knows disappears, the gifted musician must grapple with an important question: to what end has he devoted himself to his art?
Winner of the 2015 Arno Reinfrank Literaturpreis
Svenja Leiber is an award-winning German writer. She is the author of a collection of short stories, Hunting Hours, and the novel Schipino. She lives with her husband and two children in Berlin. Nika Knight is a translator and writer living in southern Maine.
