A sprawling novel that is constructed via a series of loosely connected vignettes seen through different eyes over a period of 50 years.

The book itself charts the rise and fall of East Germany through the story of one family, which captures in rich - albeit fragmented - detail the realities of daily life in the GDR, and arouses an incredibly melancholy sense of the way that dwellings, countries, families, political systems and indeed people themselves falling apart.

I really liked it, but it is rather depressing!