Lead Review (One Grand Summer)
- Book: One Grand Summer
- Location: Bavaria
- Author: Ewald Arenz, Rachel Ward (translator)
Frieder Büchner has not been doing well at school and now the Summer looms, he is forced to spend 6 weeks at his grandparents’ home, whilst his immediate family goes off on holiday. He must pass his exams next term if he wants to stay on at school and his grandfather will undoubtedly provide the environment in which to excel. Given his grandfather’s predilections for order and control, however, one of his friends refers to their home as the ‘Logical Grandfather Sanatorium‘ and his own grandmother, Nana, fondly refers to her husband as an ‘egocentric tyrant‘. It doesn’t bode well but Frieder has to bite the academic bullet.
What starts out as an exercise in learning morphs not only into academic tuition but also offers a different perspective on family and history. It is a summer of study but one also of pushing boundaries – he takes things too far with his grandmother by snooping around in her diary; he and his clique get into trouble with the police for minor misdemeanours. He falls for Beate and discovers a little more about what the notion of love means to him.
And then, for this teenager, the first death in his life occurs and he has to take unsteady and inevitable steps into adulthood. Frieder learns more about the tests of enduring friendship and the values of family.
This coming-of-age story is set against a mid 1970s Summer backdrop and the author wonderfully renders that feel of heat, carefree days and adolescent angst. The book cover really reflects content. The story is beautifully put together and well translated by Rachel Ward. Setting is inspired by Fürth and Nuremberg, and Bavaria certainly comes through as a sense of place. .
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