You Should Have Left

A thrilling exploration of psychological disturbance and fear from the bestselling and prize-winning author of MEASURING THE WORLD.

On retreat in the wintry Alps with his family, a writer is optimistic about completing the sequel to his breakthrough film. Nothing to disturb him except the wind whispering around their glassy house. The perfect place to focus.

Intruding on that peace of mind, the demands of his four-year-old daughter splinter open long-simmering arguments with his wife. I love her, he writes in the notebook intended for his script. Why do we fight all the time?

Guilt and expectation strain at his concentration, and strain, too, at the walls of the house. They warp under his watch; at night, looking through the window, he sees impossible reflections on the snow outside.

Then the words start to appear in his notebook; the words he didn't write.

Familiar and forbidding by turns, this is an electrifying experiment in form by one of Europe's boldest writers. The ordinary struggles of a marriage transform, in Kehlmann's hands, into a twisted fable that stays darkly in the mind.

“Kehlmann is one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today, and he manages all this while exploring matters of deep philosophical and intellectual import. - Jonathan FranzenDaniel Kehlmann is one of the great novelists for making giant themes seem light - Adam ThirlwellAn astonishing book, a work of deeply satisfying (and never merely clever) complexity . . . A bona-fide masterpiece - Times Literary Supplement, on FKehlmann's world is fully convincing while being philosophically challenging. He has a hypnotic effect, seducing us with his storytelling while provoking us to find meanings of our own - Saturday Telegraph, on FThis most accomplished, humane and unsettling of novels - Literary Review, on FWhat a strange and beautiful novel, hovering on the misty borders of the abstract and the real. - Ian McEwan, on F”

Kehlmann is one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today, and he manages all this while exploring matters of deep philosophical and intellectual import. - Jonathan Franzen

Daniel Kehlmann is one of the great novelists for making giant themes seem light - Adam Thirlwell

An astonishing book, a work of deeply satisfying (and never merely clever) complexity . . . A bona-fide masterpiece - Times Literary Supplement, on F

Kehlmann's world is fully convincing while being philosophically challenging. He has a hypnotic effect, seducing us with his storytelling while provoking us to find meanings of our own - Saturday Telegraph, on F

This most accomplished, humane and unsettling of novels - Literary Review, on F

What a strange and beautiful novel, hovering on the misty borders of the abstract and the real. - Ian McEwan, on F

Daniel Kehlmann was born in Munich in 1975 and lives in Vienna, Berlin and New York. He has published six novels: Measuring the World, Me & Kaminski Fame, F and You Should Have Left and has won numerous prizes, including the Candide Prize, the Literature Prize of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Doderer Prize, The Kleist Prize, the WELT Literature Prize, and the Thomas Mann Prize. Measuring the World was translated into more than forty languages and is one of the biggest successes in post-war German literature.

A thrilling exploration of psychological disturbance and fear from the bestselling and prize-winning author of MEASURING THE WORLD. On retreat in the wintry Alps with his family, a writer is optimistic about completing the sequel to his breakthrough film. Nothing to disturb him except the wind whispering around their glassy house. The perfect place to focus. Intruding on that peace of mind, the demands of his four-year-old daughter splinter open long-simmering arguments with his wife. I love her , he writes in the notebook intended for his script. Why do we fight all the time? Guilt and expectation strain at his concentration, and strain, too, at the walls of the house. They warp under his watch; at night, looking through the window, he sees impossible reflections on the snow outside.Then the words start to appear in his notebook; the words he didn't write.Familiar and forbidding by turns, this is an electrifying experiment in form by one of Europe's boldest writers. The ordinary struggles of a marriage transform, in Kehlmann's hands, into a twisted fable that stays darkly in the mind.

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