Brigitte Reimann

A gripping, never-before-translated novella by the cult writer of Siblings Kathrin – five years into a disenchanting marriage – struggles to work the farm with her sister-in-law while her husband Heinrich is away fighting for the Third Reich. To help them with the harvest, Heinrich arranges for Alexei, a Russian prisoner of war, to labour in the fields. Though initially suspicious of this watchful stranger, Kathrin is soon drawn to Alexei, with ruinous consequences. First published in 1956, Woman in the Pillory is a formative novella by one of East Germany’s most significant writers, showcasing Brigitte Reimann’s vivid ideological engagement with the legacy of Nazi Germany and the Communist drive to create ‘a new kind of person’ following the devastation of the war. Translated by Lucy Jones

Kathrin – five years into a disenchanting marriage – struggles to work the farm with her sister-in-law while her husband Heinrich is away fighting for the Third Reich. To help them with the harvest, Heinrich arranges for Alexei, a Russian prisoner of war, to labour in the fields. Though initially suspicious of this watchful stranger, Kathrin is soon drawn to Alexei, with ruinous consequences.First published in 1956, Woman in the Pillory is a formative novella by one of East Germany’s most significant writers, showcasing Brigitte Reimann’s vivid ideological engagement with the legacy of Nazi Germany and the Communist drive to create ‘a new kind of person’ following the devastation of the war.

'Spare, chilling, with wild flashes of vivid colour and the tempo of a thriller, Siblings jolts us into the beating heart of a family and post-war East Germany, conjuring the political dreams and divisions that make and ultimately break both' Lisa Appignanesi1960. The border between East and West Germany has closed.For Elisabeth - a young painter - the GDR is her generation's chance to build a glorious, egalitarian socialist future. For her brother Uli, it is a place of stricture and oppression. Separating them is the ever-wider chasm of the Party line; over them loom the twin spectres of opportunity and fear, and the shadow of their defector brother Konrad. In prose as bold as a scarlet paint stroke, Brigitte Reimann battles with the clash of idealism and suppression, familial loyalty, and desire. The result is this ground-breaking classic of post-war East German literature.Translated by Lucy Jones

Østtyskland, efterkrigstiden. Elisabeth og Uli er søskende og har altid været hinandens sammensvorne og tætteste allierede. De har delt alt, været sammen om alt, og Uli er den eneste bror, Elisabeth har en relation til, efter den ældste bror flygtede til Vesttyskland. Og nu står Uli over for samme beslutning. Men kan han efterlade alt – inklusive sin søster – i DDR? Elisabeth er overbevist kommunist og kæmper med næb og klør for at få sin bror til at blive. Hun er maler og en kunstnerisk sjæl, og med sit bramfrie væsen og sine store kunstneriske ambitioner kommer hun gang på gang i konflikt med partiet og tidens stramme konventioner, både ift. opførsel og kunstnerisk udfoldelse. Og hvordan skal hun kunne overbevise sin bror om at blive, når hun selv kan komme i tvivl? Vi var søskende er en roman om at være barn under krigen, om Elisabeth og Ulis fælles ungdom i DDR, om det enorme svigt de oplever den ældste brors flugt som, og om at stå på tærsklen til et nyt brutalt brud med ens allernærmeste slægtning. Det er en stærk fortælling om, hvordan et totalitært styre kiler sig ned gennem en ung kvindes liv og får fatale konsekvenser for alt fra hendes familieliv over hendes kærlighedsliv til hendes professionelle virke. Romanen udkom for første gang i 1963, men blev censureret af DDR-styret. Nu udgives den for første gang på dansk og i sin fulde form. Vi var søskende udkommer i Gyldendals Skala-serie for genopdagede mesterværker fra det 20. århundrede.

”Det var länge sedan jag läste en så på samma gång ogenerad och intelligent roman. Det är också tack vare översättaren Jesper Festin, som lyckas enastående väl med att överföra tyskans ordrikedom och oväntade vokabulära sammanslagningar till en okonventionell, sofistikerad och terpentinångande svensk prosa.” Dagens NyheterVåren 1961 – bara månader innan Berlinmuren byggs – får Elisabeth veta att hennes bror Uli beslutat sig för att lämna Östtyskland. Syskonen har alltid stått varandra ovanligt nära, men nu öppnar sig en avgrund mellan dem. Elisabeth har bara några få dagar på sig att övertala Uli att stanna.Brigitte Reimanns ”Syskonen” är en berättelse om lojalitet, ideal, frihet och mod, som i skildringen av Elisabeths inre kris fångar det djupt tragiska i det delade landet. Romanen utkom 1963 i Östtyskland, och ges nu för första gången ut på svenska. Översättningen utgår från den nyutgåva som kom 2023, där en rad statskritiska passager som strukits i den första utgåvan införts på nytt. Boken inleds med ett förord av författaren Isabelle Ståhl.”Trots avståndet i tid och kynne framstår den här berättelsen om en familj på väg att splittras också som helt aktuell … Ett litet krutpaket till roman med andra ord, och inslagen i årets hittills snyggaste förpackning. All heder åt formgivaren Sara R Acedo.” Aftonbladet”Det är mycket mer än bara en DDR-roman. Den är också stilistiskt överraskande, den är skriven i jagperspektiv, hetsig, lyrisk … Den är extra aktuell att läsa just nu för att vi lever i en lite liknande känsla av att apokalypsen är nära.”SR P1 Kultur

Syskonen av Birgitte Reimann, på serbiska.

Continuing where Reimann's earlier book of diaries, I Have No Regrets, left off, in 1964, this volume is a compelling and frank account of one woman’s life and loves in 1960s East Germany.It All Tastes of Farewell is a frank account of one woman’s life and loves in 1960s East Germany. As a writer, Brigitte Reimann could not help but tell a compelling story, and that is born out here in her diaries, which are gripping as any novel. She recorded only what mattered: telling details, emotional truths, and political realities. Never written for publication and first published in full in German only after the fall of the Berlin Wall, these diaries offer a unique record of what it felt like to live in a country that no longer exists, was represented for years largely through Cold War propaganda, and is still portrayed in fairy-tale Stasi dramas. Here we get a sense of lived experience as if Doris Lessing or Edna O’Brien had been allowed in with their notebooks. This volume continues where her earlier book of diaries, I Have No Regrets, left off, in 1964. It sees Reimann grow wistful and at times bitter, as her love life, her professional life, and her health all suffer. Yet throughout she retains a lively appetite for new experiences and a dedication to writing. Finally, she finds security in a surprising new love, and although she died soon after this volume ends, the novel she was writing was to become a much-read cult hit after her death. A remarkable document from a time and place that we still struggle to see clearly, It All Tastes of Farewell is unforgettable, a last gift from an essential writer.

Frank and refreshing, Brigitte Reimann’s collected diaries provide a candid account of life in socialist Germany. With an upbeat tempo and amusing tone, I Have No Regrets contains detailed accounts of the author’s love affairs, daily life, writing, and reflections. Like the heroines in her stories, Reimann was impetuous and outspoken, addressing issues and sensibilities otherwise repressed in the era of the German Democratic Republic. She followed the state’s call for artists to leave their ivory towers and engage with the people, moving to the new town of Hoyerswerda to work part-time at a nearby industrial plant and run writing classes for the workers. Her diaries and letters provide a fascinating parallel to her fictional writing. By turns shocking, passionate, unflinching, and bitter—but above all life-affirming—they offer an unparalleled insight into what life was like during the first decades of the GDR.

A story of sibling love ruptured by the Iron Curtain, by one of the most significant East German writers. "I will never forgive you," Uli says to his sister Elisabeth. It is 1960 and the border between East and West Germany has long been closed. Their brother Konrad has already fled to the West. Disillusioned by life in the East, Uli also dreams of escape, while Elisabeth still holds out hope for the political project of the GDR. With physical checkpoints and ideological tensions between them, the siblings must navigate emotional rifts as they enter into a drama fueled by love in this unflinching portrayal of life in the early years of the German Democratic Republic. One of the most significant East German writers, Brigitte Reimann (1933-1973) wrote irreverent, autobiographical works that addressed issues and sensibilities otherwise repressed in the GDR. Outspoken and idealistic, she wrote in her diaries that she would rather "live 30 wild years instead of 70 well-behaved ones." Considered a master of socialist realism, she heeded the state's call for artists to engage with the people, teaching writing classes for industrial plant workers. Of her generation's suffering, she wrote to her brother, "We marched forth carrying such a heavy baggage of ideals." After her death from cancer in 1973, at age 39, Reimann garnered cult-like attention. This is her first work of fiction to appear in English.

Continuing where Reimann's earlier book of diaries, I Have No Regrets, left off, in 1964, this volume is a compelling and frank account of one woman’s life and loves in 1960s East Germany.It All Tastes of Farewell is a frank account of one woman’s life and loves in 1960s East Germany. As a writer, Brigitte Reimann could not help but tell a compelling story, and that is born out here in her diaries, which are gripping as any novel. She recorded only what mattered: telling details, emotional truths, and political realities. Never written for publication and first published in full in German only after the fall of the Berlin Wall, these diaries offer a unique record of what it felt like to live in a country that no longer exists, was represented for years largely through Cold War propaganda, and is still portrayed in fairy-tale Stasi dramas. Here we get a sense of lived experience as if Doris Lessing or Edna O’Brien had been allowed in with their notebooks. This volume continues where her earlier book of diaries, I Have No Regrets, left off, in 1964. It sees Reimann grow wistful and at times bitter, as her love life, her professional life, and her health all suffer. Yet throughout she retains a lively appetite for new experiences and a dedication to writing. Finally, she finds security in a surprising new love, and although she died soon after this volume ends, the novel she was writing was to become a much-read cult hit after her death. A remarkable document from a time and place that we still struggle to see clearly, It All Tastes of Farewell is unforgettable, a last gift from an essential writer.