The Good Place
Following the success of her German translation of "The Good Place", Gabriella Mautner's original English version of this work was published in this country by Replica Books in 2006.
In the first part, the highlights of her early childhood, told from the child's point of view, paint an authentic picture of Jewish life in the Chemnitz of the twenties and beginning thirties. But then comes the hard year of Hitler's rise to power and she is forced to go into exile:
"Once in exile, our childhood is over.
But we are free. Yet exile robs you of
your friends, your laughter, your joy.
You are suddenly old with the pain of
torn roots. It's like a toothache that
spreads through your entire body."
The second part of the book deals with Gabriella Mautner's return to Chemnitz at the end of the twentieth century, the experience of that brief visit and the many unusual encounters with citizens of her former hometown.