The Power of Escape

Explores the themes of guilt, responsibility, love and the desire to escape from everyday life.

From the outside, Karl’s life seems to be perfectly in order, yet somehow he feels that everything is beginning to slip away from him. His close connection with his wife and son is gradually deteriorating – their conversations seem to be leading nowhere – and even his relationship with his father, who is in need of care, is becoming complicated. Inspired not only by the students at the prison where he teaches, but also by Homer, a very special boy he meets every day on his way to work, he begins to think about his life. And then there is Karoline – although he does not really know her, he thinks about her rather a lot. On a spontaneous whim he writes to her, and is surprised by the in-depth exchange on guilt, responsibility, love and life itself that ensues.
In his new novel, Kai Weyand creates idiosyncratic figures with a sparing use of words and a keen sense for comical and bizarre situations. He tells of friendship, relationships and the power that thoughts and decisions can have on our lives.