About the book

English title: The Riff-Raff
ISBN : 978-3-446-26562-2
160 pages 
February 2020
English sample translation available
Nominated for the German Book Prize

Sold to Arab World (Alturjman), China (Yilin Press), Czech Republic (Prostor), Denmark (Palomar), English World (Bloomsbury), Finland (Huippu), France (Albin Michel), Greece (World Books), Israel (Hakibbutz Hameuchad), Italy (Keller), Netherlands (Nieuw Amsterdam), Norway (Solum Forlag), Russia (Text), Spain (Edhasa Argentina), Sweden (Lindelöws), Turkey (Ayrinti Yayinlari), UK/USA (Bloomsbury) 

Josef and Maria Moosbrugger live with their children on the outer edges of a mountain village, far away from the other inhabitants. They are outsiders, marginalised, povertystricken – the riff-raff. It is  the time of the First World War, when Josef is drafted into the army.
It is the time when Maria and her children are left behind and become dependent on the protection of the mayor. It is the time when Georg from Hanover comes to the area, a man who is not only beautiful and speaks High German, but who one day also knocks on Maria’s door. And it is the time when Maria gets pregnant with Grete, the baby of the family, with whom Josef will never speak a word: the mother of Monika Helfer.
She tells the story of her own origins, of a family that is only ever referred to by everyone as the “riff-raff”.
 

About the author

Monika Helfer was born in 1947 in Au / Bregenzerwald, and lives as a writer with her family in the Vorarlberg region of Austria. She has published numerous novels, short stories and children’s books. Her works have received numerous distinctions, including the Robert Musil Stipend, the Austrian Prize for Literature and the Solothurner Literature Prize. She received the 2021 Schubart Literature Prize of the city of Aalen for her novel Die Bagage (2020). Her most recent publications with Hanser are the novels Vati (2021) and Löwenherz (2022).

Press
»With just a few sharply defined pen strokes, we see this entire ‘riff-raff’ in a way that leaves a lasting impression.« Tom Wohlfarth, taz

»Monika Helfer tells her story in a wonderfully vivid, light, never selfpitying language. The characters grow dear to you in their humanity without being obtrusive.« Peer Teuwsen, NZZ am Sonntag

»Monika Helfer’s pared-down style and simplicity are captivating. A fantastic book!« Katja Gasser, ORF2

For further information please feel free to contact:

Claudia Horzella 
Foreign Rights
Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG 
Vilshofener Straße 10
81679 München 
Germany
+49 (0)89 99830 532
[email protected] 

Website: www.hanser-literaturverlage.de