Summary
Antje Ravik Strubel: Blue Woman
A lyrical novel about Europe, memory, violence and love, filled with tension and anxiety. – Deutsche Welle
A novel about the right to tell one's own story. The blue woman is a portrait of a woman and a portrait of Europe. – Der Tagesspiegel
The novel describes a young woman's escape from the memory of rape. The story of female self-empowerment expands on themes of different, opposing cultures, the meaning of memories in Eastern and Western Europe, and gender inequality. Until her teenage years, Adina lived in a remote village in the mountainous part of the Czech Republic, without peers to socialize with. While attending a German language course in Berlin, she met a photographer named Rickie, who secured her an internship at the Uckermark art center in Pomerania.
After being raped by a West German politician, Adina runs away and after a journey that takes her across half of Europe, she stops in Helsinki, where she finds emotional support and refuge in Leonides, an Estonian politician and member of the European Parliament. While he participates in campaigns for human rights, Adina is looking for a way to free herself from her own internal exile.
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