»Maybe tomorrow, says the harbor keeper. Maybe the ferries will come back tomorrow.«
On a formerly popular vacation island, the ferries suddenly stop coming and with them the vacationers. Life comes to a standstill; most of the inhabitants leave the island, only a few hold out. Hoping for the ferries to return and isolated from each other, they carry on with the same old activities. The lives of those who remain only change when a girl called Ada inexplicably appears at a hotel and seeks to get close to the former janitor. Her questions about his past and that of the island lead to an upheaval that cannot be stopped, even when Ada vanishes as abruptly as she had appeared. The characters’ stories become more and more intertwined as they begin to come to terms with their past – and with the question of whether a return of the ferries is something to wish for at all.
Thea Mengeler‘s novel tells of private and social relational dynamics, of (over)tourism and of reclaiming one’s own life, one’s own living space. In concise but sensitive language, she describes the events on the island as well as the inner lives of her characters, whose life choices are put to the test.
Thea Mengeler, born in 1988, grew up in Krefeld and studied literary writing and communication design in Hildesheim, Kiel and Istanbul. She was a finalist at the 28th »open mike« and Styria Artist in Residence 2022. She currently works as a freelance author and lives in Hanover, Germany. In 2022 she published her debut »connect (Leykam)«. »After the Ferries« is her second novel.
