Windstärke 17

CAROLINE WAHL
Windstärke 17 / Gale Force 17

A Novel, ca. 256 pages
Spring 2024
English sample available


#1 SPIEGEL Bestseller List

"A novel like a hurricane.“
Denis Scheck, ARD DRUCKFRISCH

“Caroline Wahl’s absorbing novel tells the story of a young woman coming to terms with the death of her alcoholic mother. (…) Wahl’s writing is apparently simple, yet deeply engaging. The prose flows effortlessly,
enlivened by frequent passages of dialogue between the characters.
Readers are swiftly hooked by Wahl’s sympathetic portrayal of a fascinating cast of characters whose lives we cannot help but want to know more about.” – NEW BOOKS IN GERMAN

“These are novels that captivate. Wahl has the ability to depict the emotional and mental worlds of her protagonists in language and imagery with such intensity and immediacy that you can't stop reading.“
Peer Teuwsen, NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG


After Her Acclaimed Debut 22 Lengths the New Great Novel by Caroline Wahl

Ida has nothing with her except her mother's old, scuffed hard-sided suitcase, a few favorite clothes and her laptop when she leaves home. It's probably goodbye forever to the small town where she has spent her entire life. Ida is really bad at goodbyes; she didn't even make it to her mother's funeral two months ago. At the train station, she chooses the train that goes the farthest away - and finally lands on Rügen. With no plan, just a big lump of anger, grief and guilt in her stomach, she wanders around the Baltic island. And finally meets Knut, the local pub owner, and his wife Marianne, who take Ida in without further ado. The three of them have breakfast every morning, Ida then spends the day with Marianne, they walk through the forest together or play cards, and in the evening Ida works with Knut in the Seal. And Ida meets Leif, who is similarly damaged as she is, but maybe they do each other good. Suddenly everything is a little lighter, warmer, more bearable in their lives. But then Ida learns that Marianne is seriously ill, and the pain breaks out again.


Rights sold to: Host (Czech); Neri Pozza (Italian); Dasan Books (Korean);

Rights to previous book sold to: Al-Arabi (Arab); Host (Czech); Cossee (Dutch); Albin Michel (French); Neri Pozza (Italian); Chanda Pustaka (Kannada); Dasan Books (Korean); Albatros (Slovak); Vida (Slovenian); Lumen (Spanish World); Turkish (Yan Pasaj)