Naked Eye is delighted to announce that it has obtained the translation rights from the German publishing house Kiepenheuer und Witsch to Kathrin Schmidt’s prize-winning novel Du Stirbst Nicht (You’re not going to die).
Du Stirbst Nicht won the German Book Prize in 2009 and has since been translated into thirteen other languages, but never yet into English. We are proud to be the first publisher to introduce this multi-award-winning novelist and poet to the English-speaking world. The Naked Eye English translation will be by Christina Les.
Du stirbst nicht is a novel about a woman who wakes up from a coma and has to piece together her memory. As Helene remembers details of her past life, we feel her shock, joy and sadness. She mourns anew for people she has lost, has to befriend old familiars all over again, and relives moving moments – all the while going through therapy to repair her body and mind. As it turns out, all is not as rosy as she thought when she first woke up and encountered her devoted husband. Although in essence the novel could be set almost anywhere, Helene’s memories are of East Germany, and there are fascinating elements of political reflection on the events of 1989 and what came after them. All in all, Kathrin Schmidt does actually tell an inspiring life and love story such as you might find in more conventional “women’s fiction” (how I hate that label) – but she does it so expertly that the book is much more than that. – kjd, love german books
Reviews of Du Stirbst Nicht:
An outstanding, true novel Meike Fessmann, Süddeutsche Zeitung
A great novel about illness, language and identity […] Kathrin Schmidt is one of the most important authors of her generation in Germany. Literaturen
Between death and finding language: Kathrin Schmidt’s novel ‘You’re not going to die’ gets under your skin Helmut Böttiger, Zeit Online
Once again, Kathrin Schmidt proves to be a narrative virtuoso who brings to light collective historical memories in the personal destiny of her protagonist. Spiegel Online
…a book about what makes a person – what drives them and what sustains them. Frankfurter Rundschau
Breathtakingly accurate, Kathrin Schmidt paints the tedious path back into human existence. Neue Zürcher Zeitung
You’re not going to die is scheduled for publication in 2020/21.