Lifelines: A Novel

By: Heidi Diehl

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Synopsis: &“A graceful, attentive, and beautiful debut.&” — George SaundersFor fans of Meg Wolitzer and Maggie Shipstead: a sweeping debut novel following an American artist who returns to Germany—where she fell in love and had a child decades earlier—to confront her past at her former mother-in-law&’s funeral It&’s 1971 when Louise leaves Oregon for Düsseldorf, a city grappling with its nation&’s horrific recent history, to study art. Soon she&’s embroiled in a scene dramatically different from the one at home, thanks in large part to Dieter, a mercurial musician. Their romance ignites quickly, but life gets in the way: an unplanned pregnancy, hasty marriage, the tense balance of their creative ambitions, and—finally, fatally—a family secret that shatters Dieter, and drives Louise home. But in 2008 she&’s headed to Dieter&’s mother&’s funeral. She never returned to Germany, and has since remarried, had another daughter, and built a life in Oregon. As she flies into the heart of her past, she reckons with the choices she made, and the ones she didn&’t, just as her family—current and former—must consider how Louise&’s life has shaped their own, for better and for worse. Exquisitely balanced, expansive yet wonderfully intimate, Lifelines explores the indelible ties of family; the shape art, history, and nationality give to our lives; and the ways in which we are forever evolving, with each step we take, with each turn of the Earth.