Fiction
Vanish Among You
by Gudrun Lerchbaum
Description
Maria removes the pillow from her dead mother’s face. Finally, she is no longer needed. But when doubts are raised about the cause of death and Maria becomes afraid that she might be blamed for her mother’s demise, she vanishes. She leaves everything behind: her life, her home . . . her own identity.
Maria works under various names in various places, but one thing remains constant: freedom is unattainable. Maria is dependent on other people and their decisions. And, for their part, those other people ruthlessly exploit her vulnerability. Maria often chooses the path of least resistance, tries to conform . . . until one day, she’s had enough.
Gudrun Lerchbaum sweeps us along on a fast-paced journey into the fate of women who go unseen. She has us really feel Maria’s fluctuation between passivity and a radical unleashing, between the helplessness and simmering fury born of injustice.
More Information
Author Biography
Gudrun Lerchbaum, who was born in Vienna and grew up between Vienna, Düsseldorf and Paris, is not just a multifarious author – she has also managed consignments of fibre-optic material, posed as a life model, designed Christmas cards, and spent many years working as an architect and freelance artist. Her literary work is characterized by strong female protagonists who make their own way in life, and by her tackling of sensitive social topics within the framework of an absorbing plot. Her prose both captivates readers and gives them a wake-up call, drawing and blurring the lines of characters who stay with us long beyond the final page. In her 2022 novel Toxic Happiness, Lerchbaum wrote about a city in ecstasy and asked what the ingredients of a self-determined life might be. In Vanish Among You, she follows the path of one woman who is also many women: in the wake of her mother’s death, Maria changes her identity on the run from herself.
Haymon Verlag GmbH
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher Haymon Verlag
- Orginal LanguageGerman
- ISBN/Identifier 9783709982105
- Publication Country or regionAustria
- Pages255
- Publish StatusUnpublished
- Original Language TitleZwischen euch verschwinden
- Copyright Year2023
