Michael Billings has quickly made a career for himself. He is a successful manager who copes calmly in crisis situations. But problems at work and at home mount up – until he eventually collapses and escapes into an »imaginary« illness. He seeks escape not just from the demands he makes on himself, but also from those of his boss and his wife Carolyn. But she needs him now more than ever before. Their two children are growing up and are making life difficult both for themselves and their parents. Everything Michael and Carolyn had once intended doing, the big plan they had for themselves and their family suddenly seems to be collapsing. Mutual trust and understanding have become meaningless words. And when things start to calm down again, everything is turned upside down once again.
Werner Köhler writes of love and friendship, mistrust and betrayal, anger and disappointment, but allows a glimmer of hope to appear at the end. Not only the individual members of the family find what they’re looking for, the family as a whole is also reconciled. Köhler’s new novel is very true-to-life. It describes the confusion of his protagonists’ emotions and their ability to change. It is not a story about heroines, but about normal everyday people.
