Zündel’s Departure

Actually no-one remembers how Zündel’s disapperance came about. Least of all Zündel himself. There was a point at which things began to shift and take a different course. Although his life as a teacher was previously characterized by uniformity and uneventful activities, with his wife Magda and their daily routines. Perhaps it was just a crisis in their relationship they were facing? Which could be resolved by keeping one’s distance for some time? Zündel decides to travel to Italy. In the narrow alleys of Genoa he encounters sailors, thugs and floozies; the underworld community with their own laws is alluring and he is drifting along, allowing himself to be seduced and deceived until his old life recedes into the distance. Returning home is hardly imaginable. Markus Werner’s debut novel “Zündel’s Departure“ is a poetic, powerfully eloquent work of art telling the story of a modern-day downshifter and anti-hero playfully, effortlessly and in a tragicomical way.