What is the value of diplomacy today?
This question arises with particular urgency in a war situation like the current one.
Mediating between different parties, holding onto connecting elements, keeping the peace – these are commonly imagined as diplomatic tasks.
That's the theory.
"I'm just standing there and I'm just Germany." Friederike Andermann, the protagonist of the novel "Die Diplomatin", describes her duties of representation at receptions of other embassies so laconically and a little resignedly.
After many years in the service of the Federal Foreign Office, the experienced diplomat in her late forties made the career leap to become the German ambassador in Montevideo.
In contrast to her previous positions, however, everyday life in Uruguay seems to be quite tranquil and not too demanding;
The first official act is to choose the sausages for the embassy celebration on October 3rd.
Andermann had not imagined the culmination of her ambitious path from humble circumstances in Hamburg to the top of an embassy - she wanted to make a difference with her job!
Laughing, lying and eating salmon
Two years later, the main part of the action begins again in Turkey, and the opening in Montevideo is of little importance for the rest of the story.
After a transfer, Friederike Andermann now finds herself as a consul in Istanbul.
It's about the arbitrary imprisonment of artists and their relatives, the control of foreign journalists and the question of what role the crumbling German-Turkish relations (can) still play.
Diplomacy seems to have reached its limits in the face of an overpowering autocracy, and this is exactly where Andermann's commitment to freedom comes into play.
The story also touches on a number of other themes.
Andermann is confronted very personally with the relationship between diplomacy and the German media both in Montevideo and in Istanbul.
In general, "The Diplomat" takes place in a world in which social media determine everyday professional life.
The specific challenges for diplomats as well as a number of examples of professional jargon characterize the book.
They testify to the author's extensive background knowledge: The readers learn expressions such as MAP (officially "accompanied partner", also deciphered as "man at the pool"), learn that with the CYA strategy (cover your ass) you take responsibility of yourself shifting others away, and most importantly, that life as an ambassador consists of more than the self-referential "laugh, lie, and eat salmon."
The novel consistently demonstrates the storytelling talent of Lucy Fricke, who herself lived in Istanbul for several months.
She describes the beauty of the city just as realistically as the political situation in Turkey.
The bestselling author convinces with concise dialogues and pointed characters.
Friederike Andermann portrays her sensitively as a courageous woman who is increasingly questioning her profession, but nevertheless keeps fighting and tries to keep herself from bitterness with dry humour.
However, the book not only describes the supposedly typical narrative of a strong single woman who knows how to assert herself at the highest diplomatic level against "male associations".
In the exciting novel, in which, by the way, the name of the Turkish president is not mentioned once,
It is a really political book with current explosiveness and personal consequences for the author.
As the "Berliner Morgenpost" reported, Lucy Fricke was advised against traveling to Turkey until further notice.