The Hymn of the Harvest

Abstract

In the waning days of East Germany, the great story of International Socialism stands on teetering legs. The Berlin Wall represents a firm denial of exploration and transgression. Emilia Ousten works at a museum in East Berlin, one of many institutions seeded with Stasi intelligence operatives and interests. As the East’s position steadily becomes more untenable, Emilia turns inward to herself and her family’s history. Her mother, Helmine, vanished from East Berlin years ago in search of an enigmatic place called the Walderreich and its foundational text called The Hymn of the Harvest. As the world she has known for all her life buckles and changes around her, Emilia becomes committed to finding this Walderreich and its Hymn. As she picks up the scattered pieces of a search spanning generations, Emilia must navigate two Berlins vying for identity and supremacy, Stasi machinations, and her own fraught familial history.