Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck in Paperback

The winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize, Kairos Jenny Erpenbeck's novel explores the complexities of love and betrayal. The Irish Times describes it as an ambitious story, while Neel Mukherjee compares the ending to a bomb exploding in your room, leaving you reeling for days. Set in Berlin in 1986, the story follows a chance encounter on a bus between a young student and an older, married man. Their intense connection is fueled by a love for music and art, but their relationship is threatened by secrets and the changing world around them. As the GDR crumbles, so do their certainties and loyalties, leaving both lovers to navigate a new era of great gains and profound loss. This devastating tale reveals the path of two individuals as their once passionate relationship crumbles under the weight of cruelty, punishment, and the exertion of power.