The Quest for Christa T.

When The Questa for Christa T. was first published in East Germany, there was an immediate storm: bookshops in East Berlin were given instructions to sell it only to well-known customers professionally involved in literary matters; at an annual meeting of the East German Writers Conference, Mrs. Wolfe's book was condemned. Yet the novel has nothing explicitly to do with politics.

Praise

"On the surface we have merely the story of a sensitive woman as recalled by her friend. On this level Christa T. was a good citizen who did as she was told and lived a seemingly unexceptional life. But between the lines lies the real story of Christa T.—the story of an individual crushed by the pressures of uniformity. If you bear in mind it is the first novel of any consequence to emerge from Ulbricht's East Germany, then it becomes something of a literary landmark."—John Barkham, New York Post

"The contours of silence and the outline of things articulately left unsaid loom large in the muted brilliance of this novel."—Ernst Pawel, The New York Review of Books

"It is a courageous book that breaks taboos and, as we have come to expect from Christa Wolf, it is infused with an integrity and a deep moral concern."—The London Times Literary Supplement

About the Author(s)

Christa Wolf

Christa Wolf, born on March 18, 1929 in Landsberg an der Warthe, Germany, is also the author of Cassandra: A Novel and Four Essays. She lives with her husband in Berlin.