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Martha and Her Kin
Martha was a formidable woman who rose from a poor background to achieve modest prosperity. But she could never forget the memories of her deprived childhood as a child labourer with a farming family in the Bernese hinterlands: Show no weakness. Work relentlessly. Be tough on yourself and others. These beliefs also influenced her sons, who were determined to succeed in the post-war period, and her grandchildren, who rebel and, for the first time, dare to dream of a different, freer life.
The most personal novel by the Swiss bestselling author.
304 pages
2024
978-3-257-07273-0
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»In Martha and Her Kin, the biographies of ordinary people merge into an extraordinary narration about Swiss society – a narration from its core.«
»Lukas Hartmann's autobiographical novel Martha and her Kin is a precise and moving piece of history of Swiss mentality in the 20th century.«
»It is a novel in which there’s a lot to learn about Switzerland and its development in the 20th century.«
»The touching report about a woman who knew nothing in her life but work – for her the only way into safety, into freedom.«
»Straight and simple, Hartmann tells his own family history and shows once more what an empathetic observer he is.«
»It is in fact puzzling how such an everyday story develops such a pull. Maybe it’s because while reading, you are happy that times have changed.«