Press Realease: Baltic Buckthorn

12/15th 2024
automatic translation of the German press release

Subject:

First edition of the german novel „Brunshaupten“
– Publication date: December 2, 2024
– Type: Contemporary novel
– ISBN: 978-3-910630-13-0
– Volume: 456 pages (English translation will be at about 410 p.)
– Format: Hardcover, 14,4×22,4×3,7
– Hardcover retail price Germany: €22.40

Contents:

Kuehlungsborn: everything is there to tell a supposedly simple story in an idyllic landscape. But what emerges has more to do than just North German eloquence. „Baltic Buckthorn“ (might be the english title) sheds light on the fractures and hairline cracks, the quarrels, mistrust and worries in dealing with change in family and society in Eastern Germany, surrounded by the beauty of the natural and built landscape. And it is the hope of preserving, rediscovering or reinventing a communal identity in the midst of tourism and despite the experiences in the old bones, for the benefit of tourism and thus supposedly for everyone, without losing oneself.

Main topics:

Dealing with change – expected, hoped for, hated and feared.
The hidden and open cracks as well as the historical and social challenges that favor closeness and aloofness.
The influence of tourism, especially seasonal tourism, and the second homes associated with it in the field of tension between competitiveness, guiding principles, but also unwelcome dependency and lack of living space.
– In a place whose value was also defined in the guest accommodation.

Brief synopsis:

„Baltic Buckthorn“ tells the story of six months in the life of the Baller family, who have a sea buckthorn-processing farm near Kühlungsborn and cultivate scattered sea buckthorn plantations. The five grown-up children do not want to take over the farm. It doesn’t fit. What’s more, the sea buckthorn is dying and the few vacation apartments and the house in Strandstraße are only sufficient as a source of income for the parents, Aunt Trixi and Grandmother Hanna. Inconveniently, father Gerd had made a speculation that threatened his livelihood years ago and was able to conceal it until now. Although the family is prepared for aging, discord arises because not everyone equates the end of child-rearing responsibilities with deserved inactivity. The narrative also highlights the smaller fractures and tensions in dealing with change in the family and society. Between the beauty of the natural and built environment, the inhabitants deal with the challenges of tourism and the political past and present more or less actively, or at least in a differentiated way. The book describes the complexity of different relationships and the respective search for intersections of a desired communal positioning.

Author:

Marc Krautwedel’s „Baltic Buckthorn“ is a profound and reflective narrative that captures both the beauty and the rich diversity of the region, its residents and guests. With a keen eye for historical, social and built detail, as well as the current impact on actions and emotions, the author offers accompanying perspectives on developments following systemic and simmering changes within the family and environment of Kühlungsborn.

Publisher:

Story Roads Publishing, owner Marc Krautwedel. A joint project by Marc Krautwedel, Kelungsborn and Klaas Hummel, Amsterdam, which is limited to one author for the time being, depending on development.

Contact:

krautwedel(at)story-roads.com