Linna Sings

Five years have passed since Linna last saw them, Maggie, Simon, Jules and Falk, the guys who had been in her band. Now, they have met up in a mountain chalet to rehearse for a show. In fact, there was no reason why Linna should have taken up Maggie’s invitation, because there’s something that the others don’t know. She has not sung a note since that time. However, something is driving her to revisit her former life. It’s the memory of a night with Falk, the guitarist. Linna needs to talk about the things that were not said five years ago, and she has to find out if Falk can provide an answer.

The atmosphere, which was already very tense, now begins to turn nasty. The time that was meant to be spent rehearsing turns into a terrifying psychological game, in which Linna is increasingly made to look like a liar. She is overwhelmed by a raft of suspicions, connections and tragic misunderstandings, which end by forcing her to give way to her painful memories of the past. However, that is precisely where the key to all the reasons why Linna no longer sings is to be found.

•  ‘Linna sings’ touches a nerve in the 20+ generation.  The characters are teetering on the narrow boundary between courage and failure, between insisting on being true to themselves and the need to stand on their own feet, and they are fighting back with big and small lies about their lives.
• Bettina Belitz has created an unforgettable character in Linna, one that is capable of sticking stubbornly to her demands and keeping a cool head during long drawn-out arguments, but who is at her most authentic during her vulnerable, wistful moments.
• ‘Linna sings’ is a novel about friendship, about the destructive power of secrets and, last but not least, about love.