LIGHT IN THE SHARDS

  • No one writes so vividly about the early post-war years, Hamburg, the lives of people back then – and creates such lively, strong female characters. 
  • A novel inspring hope and immersing readers in a time of ruins and light.
  • 30,000 copies sold!
  • 2,2 million copies sold of her previous novels altogether!
  • Her trilogy Töchter einer neuen Zeit was translated into 8 languages and entered the bestseller lists in Italy and the Netherlands!
  • English sample translation available.

A time of shattered lives. And of light.

Gert and Gisela. Two of many children of war. When they meet in the cellar of a bombed-out house in Hamburg’s Eimsbüttel district, it marks the beginning of a deep friendship – and perhaps something more. In the bitter winter of the postwar years, they have no one but each other.
They find shelter in the kitchen of Friede Wahrlich, the eccentric former actress who owns the house on Tornquiststraße. Her greatest role was pretending such boundless love and loyalty to a suitor that he left her the house. The first floor is gone, but Friede is determined to make the best of what is left. She has a knack for rebuilding from ruins. Slowly, the light begins to return.
But the past will not let go. What happened to Gisela’s parents? Is Gert’s little sister still alive? And what became of the two men Friede once loved?
How do you live with the ghosts of yesterday? Can a future truly be built from the rubble?

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  • Publisher: Rowohlt Kindler
  • Release: 11.11.2025
  • ISBN: 978-3-463-00072-5
  • 416 Pages
  • Author: Carmen Korn

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Buchcover von LIGHT IN THE SHARDS
Carmen Korn LIGHT IN THE SHARDS
Portrait von Carmen Korn
© Charlotte Schreiber
Carmen Korn

Carmen Korn was born in 1952 in Düsseldorf. She is the daughter of the composer Heinz Korn. Following her studies at the Henri Nannen School of Journalism, she worked as an editor for various publications including Stern . She is married and has two grown-up children. The first volume of her trilogy, Töchter einer neuen Zeit , was an unexpected success. Her novels have sold more than 2 million copies so far and reached the top of the bestseller list.