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Elke Heidenreich, author and book critic
»I have read two new novels for you, one of which is not new at all. It was published in 1965, but in England - and now, with so much delay, here. That's quite interesting, because in 1965 people already had a few different ideas about society, sexuality, love, morality. Margaret Drabble “Mühlstein” at Dörlemann. They always discover things that you don't even know about yet. And it's worth reading.
The character in question is an uptight, strange young woman named Rosamund Stacey. She's already in her twenties and hasn't had a love experience yet. So, we're talking about sexuality. She has two friends, both of whom believe in the other: she will probably have something with him. But she doesn't have anything with anyone. And then she has a one-night stand with some George, whom she knows casually. And after a while she realizes: she is actually pregnant by this George. And what do you do now? A friend gives her the phone number of a doctor who performs abortions. She actually calls and then it's busy. Yes, if it is occupied then she cannot have an abortion. Then she will probably have to have the child. So Rosamund isn't one to take the initiative. She doesn't call a second time.
She is now going to a doctor. This is also difficult for her because when was the last time she went to the doctor? She doesn't even know what you're doing there. She sits around in the waiting room, perplexed. In short: throughout the entire pregnancy she has no idea what's actually going on with her, what's to come, she drinks gin a lot, which is something to watch out for. Then the birth comes, the child is born, it is healthy, it is happy. She takes it home, to her room, to her students, that is, to her apartment, where she still lives like a student. And she does everything right. A person who basically knows nothing about life, who doesn't make the right decisions about anything, seems pretty lacking in empathy. She loves this child. She thinks it's nice that she has company. She walks with him, she feeds him, she is happy with this child. And we are amazed that we have never read such a heroine in a book. We always want to take her and shake her and say: Rosamund, you're going to be a mother, that's a big thing!
Rosamund can't get going. She is pragmatic. She's kind of messed up. And she is still a very likeable heroine. So it's worth reading because you can't help but be amazed. Margaret Drabble “Millstone.” Then you can explain to me why it is called “millstone.” The child is certainly not a “millstone” on her neck.
Well, the next book doesn't look good now. Franz Dobler “A son of two mothers”. That's because it's still my reading copy. They are always tied so softly. The original at Tropen looks nicer, but I don't have that at the moment. Haven't sent it to me yet. But it says the same thing.
“A son of two mothers” – Dobler writes an autofictional novel here. So it's a mix of his life and a bit of fiction. Really autobiographical was too stupid for him because he is an adopted child. He, now 60 years old, found out about this very early on. Classmates told him: You're just adopted. And then he confronted his parents about it. Brave, Bavarian railway parents who admitted that. You once lost a child and really wanted a son and adopted him from a very, very young mother.
And like almost every adopted child, he sets out to search as a young man and finds this mother. And later, that's where the book begins, 30 years later he visits her again and they talk about everything. And this mother is happy that he looked for her. She is happy to see him. So there is no misfortune or catastrophe or drama anywhere in this book. And she tells him - the mother - that she also had a one-night stand, with a Persian, by the way, hence the dark, different thing about him and that as a young girl she simply couldn't keep the child and had to give it away. She now has her own family, a new one. And he is happy with this family. He was happy with his parents.
Nothing actually happened and yet he is now starting to become interested in adoption and the topic because he naturally asks himself: What would have happened to me if? If I hadn't grown up in this Bavarian, somewhat close, however loving, bourgeois family? And he also asks: What happens to adopted children who grow up in not so nice families? And why is it that in America and also in Germany, according to Jürgen Bartsch at the time, adopted children sometimes become serial killers? Or Steve Jobs, also an adopted child, became a genius? What happens there? Does this have anything to do with not being your own flesh and blood, as the adoptive parents sometimes say?
And so the book meanders back and forth between the life of Franz Dobler; it is a novel, it is a bit of an autobiography, and it is also a bit of non-fiction on the subject of adoption. And of course it's nonsense if you think that adopted children are always unhappy. He had a great opportunity to grow up with his parents, go to school, and have a good life. But if that's not the case, what happens to these children? And that is very exciting to read. Very well written. I recommend both books to you. See you next time."