A World Literature Today Notable Translations of 2023 Written by Germany's #1 bestselling author Juli Zeh, About People takes place in the middle of lockdown in spring 2020 and subtly describes the social and very private consequences of the pandemic. Fleeing stay-at-home orders in the big city, Dora and her dog move to the countryside to sit out the pandemic. She knows that Bracken, a village in the middle of nowhere, isn’t the idyll most city dwellers dream of, but she’s desperate for space and a change of scene. The quaint old house she’s saved up for needs work, weeds have taken over the yard, and her skinhead neighbor fits all the stereotypes. Just what is Dora really looking for? Distance from her boyfriend Robert, whose climate activism has crossed into obsession? Refuge from her inner turmoil? Clarity on how the whole world got so messed up? As Dora tries to keep her demons in check, unexpected things start happening all around her. Juli Zeh’s epic new novel explores our present predicaments, biases, weaknesses, and fears, but—above all—it reveals the strengths that come to light when we dare to be human. Praise for Juli Zeh  “Zeh challenges readers to consider how complicit we are in our current political dilemmas.” — Los Angeles Times  Praise for About People  A  World Literature Today  Notable Translations of 2023 "At the peak of the pandemic, a woman splits with her boyfriend over his increasingly rigid commitment to environmentalism and heads to the German countryside. The new home needs unexpected work, she and her dog promptly clash with their menacing neighbor, and unexplained things are happening all around her. An intense exploration of fear and isolation." — CrimeReads “A revealing novel about the state of our nation.” — SWR  “Juli Zeh’s new work shoots straight to the heart of Germany’s excessive demands: with a lot of wit and compassion and also with a large portion of hope for a more conciliatory society.” — ZDF  “The first real corona novel, which takes place in the middle of lockdown in spring 2020 and subtly describes the social and very private consequences of the pandemic.” — Süddeutsche Zeitung   “A cool-headed and politically astute portrait of a village where life is precarious, beset by a dying infrastructure and right-wing attitudes.” — Bayern2 “Juli Zeh has caused a stir with About People . The novel is gripping and doesn’t make it easy for itself or its audience.” — rbb Inforadio  “ About People goes beneath the surface of ideologies and attitudes.” — Stuttgarter Zeitung  “A deft, imaginative and absorbing novel about a post-heroic protagonist who is sweating from hard work rather than fear, caught between stoicism and struggle.” — Kölner Stadtanzeiger  “A conciliatory novel that does not conceal evil, but demonstrates that the world, viewed less ideologically, could be a little more humane.”— Deutschlandfunk Kultur   “A novel for our times, especially our Covid-times, in which much is clarified and intensified, including failure, loneliness, and sanguine fits of hatred.” — WDR3  “I would love to recommend this to everyone to read, to break down all these walls that somehow exist between the different groups in society.” — Rbb Kultur  Praise for  New Year PEN AWARD 2022 FINALIST  “In this wrenching psychological portrait from Zeh, a character’s buried traumatic past distorts his memory and loosens his grip on reality...Zeh’s novel skillfully asks how a person can come to terms with a painful past that has been intentionally misremembered for the purpose of sustaining one’s mental health. Readers, though, will have no trouble remembering this.” — Publishers Weekly , *starred review* “This spine-tingler captures the peak of what appears to be a spectacularly hallucinatory middle-aged crisis.” — Kirkus Reviews , *starred review* “Zeh’s suspense writing is masterful. … In  New Year , she spins a tale of the uncanny, as Henning encounters items from his childhood in this far-flung vacation destination, items that unlock a repressed childhood trauma. … Her straightforward style leaves few obstacles for the reader, and Price’s translation is crisp. This no-nonsense style lends itself well to fast-paced reading, keeping us in the tension that makes this book a page-turner.”— World Literature Today "The prolific and award-winning German thriller novelist Julie Zeh places readers in Lanzarote, The Canary Islands, on a New Year’s Day when a man named Henning is out for an athletic bike ride. On reaching the Femés pass, a combination of untreated anxiety, middle-aged life stressors, and a strange coincidence lead Henning to a triggered memory about childhood. The eeriness of the landscapes’ familiarity and the trauma of what nearly killed Henning and his sister highlight how difficult it can be to integrate past pain into adult existence. It’s a tale of psychological dread that nonetheless retains visceral unease, and a terrific read for a winter’s day when you feel complet