I read about this in the NYT, and while I don’t usually use that as a guide (they have led me astray often, and they tend to be (in the podcast at least) breathlessly ecstatic about everything), this intrigued me due to its recent rediscovery. The author died in 1970, but her novels have remained popular in German, with The Wall being her most known novel (I’ll be reading that later this year). I picked this one primarily because it is short (less than 100 pages) and based on the review.
The story is insidious in that it seems somewhat bland to start: a woman at home on her own for a few days, narrating her day-to-day and the activities over the past several months, culminating in the death of the titular Stella. But gradually it reveals with remarkable stealth and a horrific laissez-faire the truth of their lives: that they (her and her family) did conspire to kill Stella either by abuse, indifference, or deliberate neglect. The story reads as quite modern, like a 21st century novel set in the late 50s, so the precision of the writing and story are that much more remarkable when taking the author’s own time and place into account, and that it is a translation.
I enjoyed this little book and story very much. The translation is very good (I won’t say excellent due to the few typos in the book that distract at tense moments), and I was glad to learn it is the same translator of the other novel, so I am looking forward to another tale from this author.
Fate: sent to a friend
1 – a murder (kind of)
4 – translation published 2025
8 – female author
13 – place I’ve never been
14 – name in the title
21 – a translation
25 – New author to me
rclr 
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