'The rediscovery of this lost classic will shift perceptions of German literature in the English speaking world. Mercurial, seductive, smart and startling.' - Megan Nolan
Four office workers, one unforgettable weekend - this shimmering lost German classic unveils the hidden lives inside every employee.
Welcome to the Wellis Corporation. Twenty-three storeys of shimmering glass cubicles, rattling typewriters, spiraling corridors: a corporate kingdom with its own neon light.
Across the glittering panes, the acrobatic window cleaner swoops and dives, or pauses, still as a gargoyle, seeing things that nobody else sees.
Over one weekend, we follow four employees into their private worlds. An ageing secretary; a translator in a mid-life-crisis; a once-glamorous typist; and a lovelorn trainee.
Together, they reveal the illusions we live by - in the workplace, in the home and in our own mind's eye.
Lost for decades since it was first published in Germany in 1959, introduced by Megan Nolan and in a hypnotic new translation by Rob Madole, this crystalline debut novel by a pioneering female writer rewrites German literary history.
| ISBN: | 9780571396580 |
| Publication date: | 27th August 2026 |
| Author: | Ruth Rehmann |
| Publisher: | Faber & Faber |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 288 pages |
| Series: | Faber Editions |
| Genres: |
General Fiction Street fiction / urban fiction Fiction in translation Fiction |
'The rediscovery of this lost classic will shift perceptions of German literature in the English speaking world. Mercurial, seductive, smart and startling.' - Megan Nolan
Four office workers, one unforgettable weekend - this shimmering lost German classic unveils the hidden lives inside every employee.
Welcome to the Wellis Corporation. Twenty-three storeys of shimmering glass cubicles, rattling typewriters, spiraling corridors: a corporate kingdom with its own neon light.
Across the glittering panes, the acrobatic window cleaner swoops and dives, or pauses, still as a gargoyle, seeing things that nobody else sees.
Over one weekend, we follow four employees into their private worlds. An ageing secretary; a translator in a mid-life-crisis; a once-glamorous typist; and a lovelorn trainee.
Together, they reveal the illusions we live by - in the workplace, in the home and in our own mind's eye.
Lost for decades since it was first published in Germany in 1959, introduced by Megan Nolan and in a hypnotic new translation by Rob Madole, this crystalline debut novel by a pioneering female writer rewrites German literary history.
Illusions features in the following genres: General Fiction, Street fiction / urban fiction, Fiction in translation, Fiction
Illusions is available in Paperback
Illusions was written by Ruth Rehmann and published by Faber & Faber
Illusions has 288 pages
Yes it is part of Faber Editions series
£8.99