October Okay Book (by Fiona Lehmann)

Leipzig, shortly before the fall of the Wall: Driven by a lust for life and artistic ambitions, the unnamed first-person narrator of "Oktober okay" moves from the Brandenburg province to the big city, the hotbed of the Monday demonstrations. There, through her childhood friend Heiko Jaskulke, she quickly falls in with an illustrious circle of bohemians and free spirits. Suddenly, a small world opens up to the twenty-something, a world that seemingly offers space for self-realization, solidarity, and subversion. But initial euphoria soon mixes with first setbacks and agonizing self-doubt. When she gets involved with the charismatic and much older painter Achim Kyssler, she ultimately causes upheavals that leave traumatic marks, not least within herself. Meanwhile, signs of a violent escalation multiply in the Peaceful Revolution...

With a light touch and poetic urgency, Fiona Lehmann paints a panorama of the "Hero City" Leipzig, approaching the Wendezeit far from worn-out clichés. Her debut novel is a timeless coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of revolutionary events, exploring niches of happiness within a flawed whole.

With atmospheric illustrations by Leipzig painter Philipp Orlowski.

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"Now I want to time travel to wander through Leipzig during the Wendezeit with Fiona Lehmann's protagonist!" – Sarah Lorenz

"Fiona Lehmann catches the last shred of the GDR and waves it under our noses. Coolness and weariness in Leipzig. Beer and love and music. And then suddenly it's all over. A wonderfully told novel with characters you can almost smell and with whom you'd love to sit down." – Rebecca Spilker

"It's amazing how precisely Fiona Lehmann describes the tumultuous Leipzig atmosphere of 1989, even though she wasn't even born then. I didn't live in Leipzig at the time, but I feel that's exactly how it was. We also experience a protagonist who embarks on her own life, doubting, suffering, fragile and brave. A wonderful book!" – Jan Müller (Tocotronic / Reflektor Podcast)