When Will it Finally Be Like it Never Was Again?

The narrative follows little Josse, the youngest of three brothers, who views the Hesterberg child and adolescent psychiatric clinic where his father is the director as his personal kingdom. While his father governs over 1,200 patients but struggles with practical life, his mother organises the daily routine but is at odds with her role as housewife. His older brothers are whole-heartedly devoted to their hobbies and have nothing but malice for him. He is having a hard time with the letters of the alphabet and with keeping his temper under control. The only time he is really happy is when he can ride on the shoulders of a gigantic resident patient through the grounds of the mental hospital and only among the inmates does he find a sense of belonging. 

Joachim Meyerhoff masterfully depicts the extraordinary life of a family living at the heart of a psychiatric clinic, where the boundaries between "normal" and "insane" are as fluid as the memories of the narrator himself.