Last time in the sky, come back again

Author: (German) Claudia Keller
Translator: Wang Xing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The novel explores the eternal themes of love and family. It follows the protagonists who, while enjoying a happy and ordinary family life, unexpectedly encounter love, leading them to embrace love but lose their family. However, when love transforms into family, troubles arise. The novel successfully portrays the intricate daily life and complex emotional entanglements within German families, depicting the dynamics between spouses, parents and children, and lovers.
Phil is in the prime of his life: physically healthy, charming, successful, and owning a house and car. He also has a gentle, kind, young, and beautiful wife, along with three angelic daughters. Such a happy family is envied by the neighbors. Yet one day, he suddenly finds himself consumed by a inexplicable emptiness.
Laura is a mature woman with a captivating charm, a voluptuous and slender figure, and a zest for life. Her husband is gentle, considerate, stylish, and wealthy—an ideal husband for countless women. Her two sons are also intelligent, healthy, and well-behaved. Laura lives a comfortable and happy life. But on the day Phil and Laura meet, in the instant of their love at first sight, their two perfect families crumble.
In the heat of passion, they leave their marriages without hesitation, forming what they believe to be a new, free from petty bourgeois past. They indulge in the sacred love and elegant, romantic life. But reality is merciless, and soon they must face financial pressures, worrying about food and clothing. To preserve their true love and family, Laura has to start selling silk scarves. Laura becomes pregnant again. They have a daughter of their own. Everything seems to return to the past, or even worse than before.
Meanwhile, their former spouses, after enduring painful struggles, find new ideal lives and happiness: Phil's ex-wife Britta, with the help of her three beautiful, sensible daughters and their grandmother, becomes a successful author. Phil and Laura reflect on whether their sacrifices were worth it.