Sherif Dhaimish
Publishing Consultant Editor Project Manager
My Father Was a Man on Land and a Whale in the Water
By Michelle Steinbeck | Translated from the German by Jen Calleja | Published by Darf Publishers, 2018
Role: Editorial Project Manager
128 pages | B-format | Softback
A young woman goes on a perilous journey in search of her absent father in this Freudian adult fairytale by Swiss author Michelle Steinbeck. After a violent incident with a child, Loribeth packs a damaged body into a suitcase and sets off on her travels through nightmarish locations including the violent red town and a ship traversing turbulent seas. On her journey she encounters various characters, chooses between two men, and moves into a rotting cliff-edge house with Fridolin and his sister Mabel. When she finally reunites with her father, he questions her choice of domestic happiness, leading Loribeth to perceive her life as deadening routine. Steinbeck subverts fairy tale conventions to explore psychological states and family relationships, with surreal elements reminiscent of Kafka and contemporary writers like Valerie Fritsch.