The autobiographical novel of Hans-Jürgen Sailer, born in Bonn in 1957 and raised in Westphalia, is not only an atmospherically sound portrayal of life and the attitude towards it during years of Brandt, Kohl and the Republic of Bonn. Aside from moments of recognition and aha effect, the book understands that the Bonn Republic was in many ways too suffocating for the author and his fellow peers. Going against the mainstream Sailor tries to escape the confinement heading East. He travels through the Soviet Union by train and further to Japan. Later he is captivated by the “East close to home” and travels to East Berlin on multiple occasions as visitor tracing the unreal double existence of Germany and it comes as it must: Sailer falls in love with a young East German doctor. Can he outsmart border control with his insider knowledge from his student job as sleeping car conductor?

Sailer, Hans-Jürgen: Französische Straße. Eine deutsche Tetralogie.
ISBN: 978-3-937772-20-2, paperback, 172 pages, 14,90 Euro