An insightful and authentic narrative

Silence is not always golden

Mimi collects perhaps-mothers. She stalks and photographs women who resemble her. The hair color, the shape of the nose, the profile of the face.

Her own mother allegedly died while giving birth to her. At least, that is what Mimi’s father says, who has raised the now 14-year-old girl as a single parent. But where are the snatches of memories coming from that keep flashing through her mind? Mimi dancing, barefoot, in the snow with her mother as a little girl. The sound of her mother’s voice, the suitcase in her hand… Is Mimi just imagining things? Is she crazy?

When summer begins, everything changes. Mimi decides to run away to finally find out the truth…

“I want to find her and tell her that I still exist and that she is still my mother, regardless. This doesn’t just stop because you leave.”

by Lea Dittrich


Südpol Verlag | hc | 200 pp | 2018 | 12+

All rights available

[original title: Die Dinge, über die wir schweigen]