Elke Heidenreich

Nina and her mother have never gotten along. Now that her own children are grown and her mother elderly, Nina dutifully visits in order to help out, but always stays in the local hotel and the visits are always difficult for both of them. And then, when she visits to celebrate her mother's eightieth birthday on her way to meet her lover in Milan, her mother decides to go with her for a few days, having never been to Italy.

This is an oddly heartwarming story of two prickly people who have show more never shown affection for each other and how they move beyond their fraught past to come to an understanding of each other for a few days.

Die schönsten Jahre: Vom Glück und Unglück der Liebe has not been translated into English. show less

The ending is exquisite. But for a very short all-ages fable / children's book, it took a long time to get there. The thing is, little "Black Lionheart" had no personality except for a lust for power and a bit of devotion to his disabled little sister. Maybe a less experienced reader would enjoy the main story more, pretty much as an adventure, and then be 'warmed up' to be ready to appreciate the more thoughtful ending.

Alte Liebe rostet nicht. Aber die Zeit ist an Lore und Harry nach 40 Jahren Ehe nicht spurlos vorbeigegangen. Die leidenschaftliche Lore hat Angst, bald mit dem frisch pensionierten Harry untätig im Garten zu sitzen. Nur in einem sind sich die Alt-Achtundsechziger einig: Ihre Tochter Gloria hat alles nur Mögliche im Leben falsch gemacht! Nun will Gloria in dritter Ehe einen steinreichen Industriellen heiraten, der auch noch ihr Vater sein könnte. Wie konnte es so weit kommen? Elke show more Heidenreich und Bernd Schroeder erzählen in umwerfenden Dialogen die Geschichte eines Ehepaars, in der sich eine ganze Generation wiedererkennen kann. Komischer sind die Szenen einer Ehe noch nicht erzählt worden. show less

Perhaps as close to Dr Seuss as it gets, auf Deutsch? Not in nonsense words, that I identified, so much as rhyme scheme & repetition, to comic effect. The pictures are mildly absurdist: penguins with violin cases, usw.