Overview

• Rowohlt has published Wahl’s third novel in as many years, with reviews arriving from national outlets on August 27–28.
• Set in the Munich publishing world, the story follows Charlotte Scharf, who takes an assistant job with Ugo Maise and struggles toward self-determination through music.
• The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung faults the auctorial voice, repetition and length, while reporting the book’s workplace arc and emancipation theme.
• Tagesspiegel and dpa coverage emphasize the novel’s intensity, vivid dialogue and occasional meta passages that some find interruptive.
• Reviewers note parallels to Wahl’s earlier assistant job in Switzerland, and attention is further fueled by her bestseller track record and the film adaptation of “22 Bahnen” opening on September 4.