Glasmurmeln, ziegelrot

By Karl Rühmann

A tender and precise novel about childhood under an authoritarian regime, where storytelling becomes a way to survive.

In the 1960s, a young boy grows up with his mother in an authoritarian Eastern European country, where fear quietly shapes everyday life.

Unable to fully understand what is happening around him, he turns to storytelling — transforming reality into narratives that make the unbearable more manageable.

After his mother’s death, he is sent to live with relatives, where he finds an unexpected connection with a grandmother who shares his instinct for invention.

Glasmurmeln, ziegelrot is a restrained and deeply human novel about memory, childhood and the power of storytelling in the face of fear.

Key Facts:

• Publisher: Rüffer und Rub, Zurich (2018)

• Language: German (materials available in EN/FR)

• Genre: Literary Fiction

• Themes: childhood under authoritarian rule; imagination as survival; identity and belonging; resilience

• Published translations: Croatian

• Other translation rights: Available