Annemarie Schwarzenbach, journalist, novelist, antifascist, archaeologist, and traveler, has become a European cult figure for bohemian free spirits since the rediscovery of her work in the late 1980s.
Lyric Novella tells the story of a young man’s obsession with Sibylle, a Berlin variété actress. Although his future career in the diplomatic service has been carefully mapped out for him, his fascination with Sibylle leads him to question his family’s values and the life expected of him. His family, future, and social standing become irrelevant beside his overriding compulsion to meet her at the theater each night and drive with her through the city.
Schwarzenbach’s clear, psychologically acute prose makes this a compelling and evocative novella, with intriguing parallels to her own life. After its publication, she revealed that her protagonist was in fact a young woman, not a man, leaving little doubt that Lyric Novella can be read as a literary portrait of lesbian love in a time of profound social and political upheaval.
