Audio book tip “Zur See”
After “Altes Land” and “Mittagsstunden”: This is Dörte Hansen’s third novel
Dörte Hansen has just published her third novel, “Zur See”.
© Georg Wendt / DPA
The film adaptation of her second novel “Mittagsstunden” has just started in the cinemas when Dörte Hansen’s third work is already appearing. “Zur See” tells of how the life of a family on a North Sea island changes – and shows the well-known strengths of this author.
What is “At Sea” about?
It is an unspecified North Sea island where Hanne Sander and her three adult children live. The eldest son Ryckmer was once a captain, but after a traumatic experience at sea he became addicted to alcohol. Daughter Eske, on the other hand, struggles with tourism, through which the authentic island culture has degenerated into folklore, which is reproduced anew every day. “Fishermen who buy fisherman’s shirts for the tourists, women in traditional costume who dance for the strangers, shanty men who sing like sailors and have never sailed in a storm,” Hansen describes it at one point in the novel.
Only the youngest son Henrik makes the best of it: he is a freelance artist and creates works from what the sea washes ashore. From a changing perspective, the novel describes how the life of this family changes due to the incursion of mainland people and the changing times.
Why is the audio book worth it?
Dörte Hansen’s great strength has always been precise observation. Whether it’s about the relationship between long-established and newcomers, as in “Altes Land” or the rural cosmos of a North Frisian town, as in “Mittagsstunden” – the writer takes a close look and has a keen sense for nuances. This is also the case with “Zur See”. With the ethnological perspective of a woman on the mainland, Hansen describes how changing times do not stop on the island and how the islanders react when the old laws no longer apply. That doesn’t sound like much – but Hansen’s sparse, kitsch-free style develops an irresistible pull that quickly draws the reader into a foreign world that he previously only knew from the outside as a tourist.
Who wrote it?
She is a late starter: Dörte Hansen was already over 50 when she published her first novel “Altes Land” in 2015. The book became an instant bestseller, as did its 2018 sequel, Midday Hour, which hit theaters last week. With “Zur See”, the author and journalist, who was born in Husum in 1964, has published her third book, which also tells of life in northern Germany.
Who’s speaking?
The seven-hour novel is read by the actress Nina Hoss, who became famous in 1996 as “The Girl Rosemarie” and is now best known as a theater actress and for her feature films with director Christian Petzold. Even though she was born in Swabia, Hoss conveys the text with a North German clarity that is appropriate to the material.
“Zur See” by Dörte Hansen is available for download on Audible