German author Nina Bußmann presents her novel 'Drei Wochen im August' at Maison de Heidelberg in Montpellier.
The story follows Elena, who rents a remote holiday house on the French Atlantic coast for three carefree weeks with her children, a babysitter and a friend of her thirteen-year-old daughter. Her husband has stayed behind in Germany and the marriage is troubled.
What starts as a relaxing break is increasingly threatened from outside and within: dried-out forests burn, unannounced guests arrive, and jealousy, mistrust and dependencies fuel conflicts until one of the girls suddenly vanishes.
The novel is described as an intense chamber drama set in the summer heat, told with psychological insight and a fine sense of suspense.