The Jewish Prompter

English sample translation available
#3 Best Books in December 2018 (ORF Bestseller List)

“Fate has a great sense of humor”

The first-person narrator of this novel is called Adriana Altaras and, with tragicomic charm, she describes the absurdities of daily life in the theater, an unexpected family reunion and why the Shoah, the tragedy of the 20th century, is at the epicenter of her work.

Adriana Altaras loves to direct operas. But there’s one thing she realizes again and again: In order to do so, you have to make sacrifices. Weeks spent stuck in the German boondocks, drowning homesickness in sweet-and-sour sauce at the local Chinese restaurant, memorizing 42 names and life stories within 24 hours, forbidding French kissing on stage and, if necessary, rescuing the stage manager from the fly floor.

During rehearsals for Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, the biggest challenge turns out to be the prompter, of all people. Susanne, known as Sissele, has read Adriana’s books and is convinced that she alone can help. For decades, Sissele has been searching, in vain, for her relatives, who were scattered to the four winds after World War II. Now she wants to make one final attempt – with the help of Adriana Altaras. Together they set off on an adventurous trip across Germany, the past and present intermingle, as do unforgettable stories of survival and those of later generations. A captivating and touching work of profound humanity.