“Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen”

by Katharina Hagena

 

√ Title: “Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen” (“The taste of Apple Seeds”)

√ Author: Katharina Hagena

√ Genre: Novel

√ Published: 2008

√ Difficulty: ♦♦♦◊◊ (B2)

√ Interesting facts: “Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen” is Katharina Hagena’s first novel.

 

 

What it is about: For Iris, childhood memories are of long hot summers spent playing with her cousin Rosmarie in her grandmother’s garden, a place where redcurrants turned to pale tears on the branches of trees and beautiful Aunt Inga shook sparks from the tips of her fingers. But now her grandmother is dead and, along with inheriting the property, Iris finds that she also inherits her family’s darkest secrets. Reluctant to keep it, but reluctant to sell, Iris spends one more summer at the house. By day she swims at the local lake, where she rediscovers a childhood companion. Alone at night she roams through the familiar rooms, exploring the tall black shadows of the past. In the flicker between remembrance and forgetting, Iris recalls an enigmatic grandfather who went to war and came back a different man, the night her cousin Rosmarie fell through the conservatory roof and shattered her family’s lives, and a moment of love that made all the trees in the orchard bloom over night.

(Source: Amazon)

Reviews:

– “This melancholy novel about lifting the layers of history is packed with gorgeous imagery and undertones of buried secrets… Sultry, tragic and intensely atmospheric.” The Times

– “Intriguing and carefully written… There is clearly a certain X-factor about its bitter-sweetness.” Daily Mail

– “First love, family secrets and the pain of loss are at the heart of this enchanting read.” Good Housekeeping

– “The Taste of Apple Seeds smells of summer, of apples and of blackberries. It is sweet, but also slightly bitter; it is a sad yet comforting book of memories.” Die Zeit

– “A masterpiece, seeds and all.” Nouvel Observateur

 

Take a look into the book here! Curious? Get it on Amazon in German or English!

Want to know more about the author and the book? Check out her website for more information about Katharina Hagena and her work. You might also like to read what DIE ZEIT or the Goethe Institut has to say about it!

This book has been filmed, too. Check out the trailer on Youtube or find the movie on Amazon!

If you are interested in German literature you might also want to take a look on our page about German writers .

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