Marzahn, Mon Amour

2022 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation Longlist

A woman approaching the 'invisible years' of middle age abandons her failing writing career to retrain as a chiropodist in the East Berlin suburb of Marzahn, once the GDR's largest prefabricated housing estate. From her intimate vantage point at the foot of the clinic chair, she observes her clients & co-workers, listening to their stories with empathy & curiosity. 

Part memoir, part collective history, Katja Oskamp's love letter to the inhabitants of Marzahn is a tender reflection on life's progression & our ability to forge connections in the unlikeliest of places. Each person's story stands alone as a beautifully crafted vignette, but together they form a portrait of a community.