WOMEN IN THE SANATORIUM

  • A powerful debut novel about the immigration experiences of three women, the lies we tell ourselves, and the importance of stories.

After this incident, Anna is in a sanatorium. The daily routine is defined by Marija's monologues, Elif's stories, and the daily chicken stew in the canteen. But there is also Pepik, the pale flamingo from the spa park, to whom Anna tells of her difficult emigration, of the time when her mother stopped drawing invisible circles on her cheek, and when her father barely showed up. Above all, she also speaks of love, which can and must exist even, or especially, in such a depressing place as a clinic.

Elegant and in clear, precise language, Anna Prizkau tells the story of three women, of the foreign and the lost, of roles and expectations, and always, above all, of the power of storytelling.

"Prizkau writes self-assured fiction in beautiful, concise, clear language. [... A] bold, combative, beautiful book." Spiegel Online

"Especially those stories where Prizkau focuses on family remain memorable, and the way she tells grand dramas between three people in just a few, spare sentences is impressive." Süddeutsche Zeitung

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  • Publisher: Rowohlt Hundert Augen
  • Release: 15.07.2025
  • ISBN: 978-3-498-00732-4
  • 304 Pages
  • Author: Anna Prizkau

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WOMEN IN THE SANATORIUM
Anna Prizkau WOMEN IN THE SANATORIUM
Valeria Mitelman
© Valeria Mitelman
Anna Prizkau

Anna Prizkau , born in Moscow in 1986, moved to Germany with her family in the 1990s. She studied in Hamburg and Berlin, and from 2012 to 2024, she worked as an editor for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung . Her 2020 short story collection Fast ein neues Leben won the Literature Prize of the City of Hannover. In 2021, she read at the Bachmann Prize. Anna Prizkau lives in Berlin.