Carmen Korn

Carmen Korn presents her new novel for the first time – and celebrates its premiere at Kampnagel.

Gert and Gisela are teenagers when they meet in a basement in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel during the second post-war winter. Two children of war, uprooted, alone, traumatized – and yet this first encounter is the beginning of something bigger: a friendship, perhaps even love. They find shelter in the half-destroyed house of Friede Wahrlich, a former actress who is trying her best to make a home out of the rubble.

While reconstruction begins outside, memories battle inside: What happened to Gisela's parents? Is Gert's little sister alive? And what became of the men Friede once loved? In Tornquiststraße, the past and the future collide – at a time when light and hope are only slowly returning.

Carmen Korn tells a touching and vivid story of survival and new beginnings. She shows how war destroys not only cities but also souls – and how people can nevertheless find their way back to each other.