You may already know Meike Ziervogel’s name. She’s the founder of Peirene Press who publish three thought-provoking novellas in translation a year, several of which I’ve reviewed on this blog. Flotsam’s not her first book but it’s the first I’ve read by her. Set on the German coast in the 1950s, Ziervogel’s strange, unsettling novella is a beautifully expressed exploration of the legacy of war and the grief it brings.
Trine is playing on the shipwreck not far from the cottage where her mother has lived since her father suggested the family leaves Berlin during the war. Her brother Carl falls from the rigging, apparently dead but Trine decides not to interrupt her mother’s daily beach combing, instead dragging his body home, planning to give him a pirate’s burial. On the cusp of adolescence, Trine is an outsider, the butt of sneering bullies, but when she sets fire to the shipwreck her status changes. She’s someone to be reckoned with now. Her mother, Anna, has collected what the sea throws up for years until it fills several of the cottage’s rooms. Once an artist, she had plans to make something of these bits and pieces but nothing ever comes of it. One day she thinks she sees a man who may be Carl, trudging through the mudflats, and her thoughts turn to the war. As this evocative novella draws to a close, Anna at last finds a use for her daily gatherings.
As you may have gathered from that synopsis, this is not an easy book to write about without muffling the small shocks and perplexities which readers should experience for themselves Told first from Trine’s perspective then Anna’s, it’s the briefest of novellas yet it provokes more thought than many books three times its length. Written in often lyrical yet spare, clean prose, Flotsam is haunted by grief, leaving much for readers to deduce for themselves. Ziervogel’s setting reflects the shifting ambiguity of much of the novel in its atmospheric descriptions:
The blue sky is cloudless. A flock of oystercatchers is heading out towards the sea, which is nothing more than a thin line on the horizon
It was impossible to imagine that in just a few hours all of this would be covered by the sea, which seemed to have disappeared beyond the horizon, dropped off the face of the earth.
Ziervogel’s novella is likely to take you less than an afternoon to read, her own criterion for the books Peirene publishes, but I’d be surprised if you weren’t thinking about it for some time after you’ve finished.
Ooh sounds fascinating. Although I am a huge Pierene fan, I did not know that Zierwovgel was a writer herself – every day’s a school day!
That’s the joy of the blogosphere, isn’t it. At least the boookish one! Flotsam is everything you’d expect from someone who has such a sharp editorial eye, Liz.
Sounds interesting. I have read one book by her (also a novella) – Magda, which is a fictionalised account of the last few days of the life of Magda Goebbels, the wife of Nazi propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels. Although I thought the various points of view weakened the story, it is a book that I still think about years later, so there is merit in that.
I’ll be looking Flotsam up.
Indeed, there is. I’ll be checking out. Magda, too.
Magda was super, I read her next two also, Clara’s Daughter and Kauthar. I’m sure I’ll be adding this one to my collection as all her work has been worth reading.
Excellent! Any particular favourite of those, Annabel?
I ‘loved’ Magda, but Kauthar was even more thought-provoking about a British girl who converts to Islam.
I’ll go for whichever of those I spot first, then. Thanks!
It sounds like a very accomplished novel, with plenty of space for the reader to wander around and explore the narrative. Beautifully written, too.
Even though I haven’t read any of Meike’s books, I do recall seeing a lot of praise for Magda when it came out – something that seems to be backed up by the comments above.
It’s expertly executed, Jacqui. Both beautiful and disconcerting in a way that suits the story that Meike is telling. I’ll be investigating her other books, for sure.
Well, your second sentence had me entirely convinced! Sounds a perfect read for a novella lover 🙂
Right up your alley!
You never know what is going to be brought in by the sea – the possibilities are endless. And now I’m curious to know what Anna does with it all! Sounds intriguing…
(I just read a book about a body that was found washed up by the sea – I’ll be reviewing it one of these days.)
Oh, I’ll look out for that. Flotsam is well named in that it deals with the emotional fallout of war which ebbs and flows.
That sounds just beautiful. I’m not often seduced by the idea of book subscriptions because I am fussy with my selections BUT their press subscription is one that I hanker after.
I know what you mean but Peirene are reliably excellent. Their books are always thought-provoking and often beautifully executed. Flotsam demonstrates that Ziervogel is as good a writer as she is a publisher.
That’s an excellent endorsement. So I remain hankering! 🙂