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At a glance:

Author: Uwe Johnson
First Published: 1987
Type of Work: Historical realism
Time of Work: 1931-1968
Setting: New York City; Mecklenburg, East Germany; and Richmond, England
Principal Characters: Gesine Cresspahl, Marie Cresspahl, Heinrich Cresspahl, Lisbeth Cresspahl, Papenbrock, Dietrich Erichson, The New York Times
Genres: Long fiction, Realism, Historical fiction
Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Memory, New York City, 1940’s, Guilt, 1930’s, England or English people, Death or dying, Ethics, Germany or German people
Locales: New York, NY, Mecklenburg, Germany, Richmond, England

Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl is a multileveled record of the ongoing lives of Gesine Cresspahl and her daughter Marie, counter-pointed by Gesine’s reconstruction of the past. The present encompasses the historically critical, highly eventful year of August 21, 1967, through Au-gust 20, 1968. Verbatim quotations from The New York Times provide a running chronicle that emerges as the nagging liberal voice of yet another character, “Auntie Times.”

Anniversaries | Anniversaries

At a glance:

The Novel

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