Una noche, Willi y Lorenz estaban sentados delante del televisor comiendo pistaches y esperando al programa de deportes. La publicidad anunciaba coches, detergentes y chocolate. Cuando apareció el anuncio de una empresa de muebles, Willi quitó el sonido.
– La autocompasión es un problema superfluo – dijo de pronto.
– ¿Un dicho yugoslavo? – preguntó Lorenz.
– No. Mi conclusión de las últimas semanas.
Lorenz permaneció en silencio.
“El Vals hacia atrás: O los espíritus de la familia Prischinger” (Reverse Waltz: or The Manen of the Prischinger Family) was one of those books that took me fully by surprise. I had zero expectations about it. I actually found this book by luck in a store that sells magazines and umbrellas when I needed a short holiday read. And it turned out to be amazing.
Kaiser tells a heartwarming story of family ties that follows the Prischinger family on a crazy trip from Austria to Montenegro. The main story is told by Lorenz, a young man who’s going through a rough patch and ends up moving to his aunt’s apartment, where his other two aunts spend most of their time. When a sudden death turns everything around, the family has to embark on a trip to Montenegro. In between the chapters of the main story, Kaiser shows us bits of the lives of the different members of the family, taking us from the post-war years in rural Austria to the seaside in the Balkans.
The book turned out to be fantastic. As Kaiser developed the story, she kept surprising me; the book is very well written. It is witty -not just witty, actually funny to the point where I laughed at loud a few times – and endearing. The characters are captivating: genuine, layered, and charming. At some point, I felt like the three aunts were part of my family, and I didn’t want to stop reading their stories.
Somehow this book is not yet translated into English, which is a shame because it’s really worth it and, from what I read online, Kaiser is a superstar in her native Austria. Maybe it gets translated soon. In the meantime, you can find it in German, French, and Spanish.
About Vea Kaiser
Vea was born in 1988 in St. Polen, Austria. She published her first novel when she was 23 years old and was awarded “Best Debut Novel” at the 2013 international Festival du Premier Roman in France and was voted “Author of the Year” by Austrian readers. El Vals hacia atrás: O los espíritus de la familia Prischinger is her third novel.
Austrian initiatives and projects that support and empower girls and women
Women of Vienna
Women of Vienna is a non-profit organization providing resources and a powerful network for all women living in or near Vienna, Austria. They have many groups for women with different interests: sports, STEM, 40+, families, and an all-female book club. They believe that everyone should have an equal opportunity to access resources and understand their rights, no matter if they are new to Vienna.
The Map of Fiction by Women 