A pregnant woman searching for a way for herself and her child, a war-torn returnee who does not want to be a father - Reinhard Jirgl's debut, published in 1990 in the GDR, but lost in the turmoil of reunification and never reprinted in unified Germany, is a significant, late discovery. In a fascinating text collage, Jirgl unfolds the stories of Margarete and Walter during the final years of World War II, the post-war period, and the early years of the GDR. The novel already contains the central themes that would also define Jirgl's later work: German contemporary history and the power of political systems over the individual.