LAST HOUSE BEFORE THE MOUNTAIN
For readers of Ian McEwan, Elena Ferrante, and Julie Orringer, the spellbinding, internationally bestselling, multigenerational family saga set in a fractured rural village in WWI Austria.
Maria and Josef live with their children in a valley in westernmost Austria. When the First World War breaks out and Josef is drafted into the army, Maria is left to provide for her family alone. Every day is a struggle against starvation, the harsh alpine climate and the hostile nearby villagers who see Maria as little more than a beautiful temptress out for the men left behind. But when a red-haired stranger arrives in the village,
For readers of Ian McEwan, Elena Ferrante, and Julie Orringer, the spellbinding, internationally bestselling, multigenerational family saga set in a fractured rural village in WWI Austria.
Maria and Josef live with their children in a valley in westernmost Austria. When the First World War breaks out and Josef is drafted into the army, Maria is left to provide for her family alone. Every day is a struggle against starvation, the harsh alpine climate and the hostile nearby villagers who see Maria as little more than a beautiful temptress out for the men left behind. But when a red-haired stranger arrives in the village, Maria feels happiness seep back into her life and she faces a choice whose consequences will affect the lives of her family for generations to come.
Based on the internationally bestselling and award-winning Austrian novelist Monika Helfer’s own family history, Last House Before the Mountain is a propulsive, haunting, multi-layered saga about love, family, and the hidden wages of war.
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Hardcover
- April 2023
- 192 Pages
- 9781635579871
Buy the Book
$26.00
About Monika Helfer & Gillian Davidson (Translator)
Monika Helfer is the bestselling author of novels, short stories, and children’s books, including, most recently, Löwenherz, Vati, and Die Bagage (Last House Before the Mountain). This is her first novel to be translated into English. She lives in Hohenems, Austria.
Gillian Davidson is a literary translator based in London. Last House Before the Mountain is her first published work of translation.
Praise
“A poignant, captivating, beautifully woven family saga. As honest as Elena Ferrante, with the folkloric intensity of Téa Obreht, Last House Before the Mountain explores the ways we reconstruct our family histories in an attempt to understand who we are.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles, A Piece of the World, and Orphan Train
“A master class in literary compression. In just a short span of pages, Helfer brings a whole world of wonder, loss and deep, deep longing to indelible life. How lucky we are that her work is finally available in English.” —Laird Hunt, author of National Book Award Finalist Zorrie
“Generations of family secrets and unrequited love are braided with restraint and compassion in this moving story of a woman’s longing. Drawing from the wreckage of war and poverty, Monika Helfer expertly weaves this entrancing tale of one woman’s struggle to build a life of love and dignity.” —Tsering Yangzom Lama, author of Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies
“[Last House] is beautiful and heartbreaking, and readers will fall in love with Maria. It’s also a profound meditation on the stories we tell about ourselves, the stories others tell about us, how those stories are handed down the generations, and the effect of inherited narratives and memories on our lives. I absolutely loved it.” —Monica Ali, New York Times bestselling author of Untold Story and Love Marriage
“In Helfer’s spare, subtle English-language debut, an Austrian family is transformed during WWI . . . Helfer brings a great deal of nuance to her exploration of female desire and vulnerability, male power, and community division. This should win the author wider recognition in the U.S.” —Publishers Weekly
Discussion Questions
1. Last House Before the Mountain is not written in chronological order. How does this method of storytelling affect how we receive the story?
2. How does the town feel about Josef Moosbrugger? Why do they feel this way?
3. When Josef is called to war, how do the village men react? What do their reactions say about how they feel about Maria and Josef?
4. What new challenges does Maria have to face with Josef gone? How does she feel about being left behind?
5. How did the man from Hanover change Maria’s life? If you were in Maria’s shoes, would you have made the same choices she made?
6. Several times in the novel, Maria is described as very beautiful. Why is this a problem for the village? Did this strike you as fair or unfair?
7. What does the Bagage’s class have to do with how the village perceives Maria’s beauty?
8. Why does Maria allow the mayor to take advantage of her? What could she gain and lose by going against the mayor?
9. Nobody believes that Maria was not unfaithful to Josef. Why is this so? Do you believe that Maria was unfaithful?
10. In what ways does the war affect the village? How is this portrayal different from other novels or movies about war?
11. Lorenz has to take on an outsized role in his family after Josef goes off to war. Why is that so? What does this say about the place of women in society?
12. Josef comes back from the war alive and seemingly physically unharmed. Furthermore, he seems to have done well for himself. Why do you think that the former mayor resents this?
13. Who was your favorite character, and why?
14. Helfer ends the book by writing that everyone she has written about is dead, and she herself is old. How does this revelation change our reading of the book?