Katja Oskamp tells tenderly and unreservedly of the transformations that existence holds in store, of fragile lives, of the roles of a woman and of bodies in all their glory and ugliness. Above all, however, she tells the story of a great love.
She meets him when she is still young and he is almost old. He, the famous writer. She, who is just starting to write and is the mother of a young daughter. She becomes his pupil, his lover, his confidante, and they both vow to be devoted to each other "with all their titters and peculiarities". A relationship full of lust and devotion and cheerfulness. But then, when their daughter is in the middle of puberty, he receives a diagnosis that changes everything. The relationship becomes a state of emergency and she turns from lover to carer. She wants to help, she helps, but something is fading, the man in her life is moving away, the time of farewells begins. And something else: a new life.
"Katja Oskamp establishes herself as an unpretentious, gallantly witty narrator of the tragedies of everyday life and love." Jörg Magenau, Deutschlandradio Kultur
"Katja Oskamp doesn't need many words to tell a whole life. But the stories that emerge are spectacular." Bov Bjerg
Katja Oskamp was born in Leipzig in 1970 and grew up in Berlin. She worked as a dramaturge, published the short story collection "Halbschwimmer" and the novels "Staubfängerin" and "Hellersdorfer Perle". Her book "Marzahn, mon amour" became a major bestseller and was awarded the Dublin Literary Award 2023.
"Die vorletzte Frau", 208 pages, will be published by Ullstein Verlag on 29.08. 2024