#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER For readers of Elena Ferrante, Téa Obrecht, and Claire Keegan, the spellbinding, internationally bestselling, multigenerational family saga set in a fractured rural village in WWI Austria. Maria and Josef live with their children in a valley in westernmost Austria. When the First World War breaks out and Josef is drafted into the army, Maria is left to provide for her family alone. Every day is a struggle against starvation, the harsh alpine climate and the hostile nearby villagers who see Maria as little more than a beautiful temptress out for the men left behind. But when a red-haired stranger arrives in the village, Maria feels happiness seep back into her life and she faces a choice whose consequences will affect the lives of her family for generations to come. Based on the internationally bestselling and award-winning Austrian novelist Monika Helfer's own family history, Last House Before the Mountain is a propulsive, haunting, multi-layered saga about love, family, and the hidden wages of war. “A poignant, captivating, beautifully woven family saga. As honest as Elena Ferrante, with the folkloric intensity of Téa Obreht.” ― Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE EXILES, A PIECE OF THE WORLD, and ORPHAN TRAIN “Beautiful and heartbreaking, and readers will fall in love with Maria. I absolutely loved it.” ― Monica Ali, New York Times bestselling author of UNTOLD STORY and LOVE MARRIAGE “In Helfer's spare, subtle English-language debut, an Austrian family is transformed during WWI . . . Helfer brings a great deal of nuance to her exploration of female desire and vulnerability, male power, and community division. This should win the author wider recognition in the U.S.” ― Publishers Weekly “What distinguishes Last House Before the Mountain from a hundred other family stories is its charm . . . it confides in the reader intimately. And when we learn that the story is based on Helfer's own family, the final moving paragraph strikes the reader like a knife to the heart.” ― The Observer “A master class in literary compression. In just a short span of pages, Helfer brings a whole world of wonder, loss and deep, deep longing to indelible life. How lucky we are that her work is finally available in English.” ― Laird Hunt, author of National Book Award Finalist ZORRIE “Generations of family secrets and unrequited love are braided with restraint and compassion in this moving story of a woman's longing.” ― Tsering Yangzom Lama, author of Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist WE MEASURE THE EARTH WITH OUR BODIES Monika Helfer is the bestselling author of novels, short stories, and children's books, including, most recently, Löwenherz ( Lionheart ), Vati ( Daddy ), and Die Bagage ( Last House Before the Mountain ). She lives in Hohenems, Austria. Gillian Davidson is a literary translator based in London. Born and brought up in Scotland, she studied French and German at Edinburgh University, spending a year at Würzburg University in South Germany. After working in Austria for six months, she returned to London to work in the finance office of a German company. She then spent most of her career working as an accountant in the UK public sector. Now retired, she enjoys devoting herself to her love of languages, adding Spanish to her repertoire. She greatly admires Monika Helfer's work and this novel is her first published work of translation.