Luise is at the center of the story. In the first part of the book, she is in the fourth grade, later a grown woman. Her school friend Martin, her grandmother Selma, and her grandmother’s platonic friend, the optician, play important roles in her life. They all live in a village and are a small community of destiny. This story that deals with the big themes of life – friendship and love, courage and despair, tradition and change, life and death.

Basically, the book is about a village and its people. Everyone here has their rightful place in society, and each person is valued for their strengths as well as their weaknesses. In her novel, German author Leky transports us to an intact world. It is an intact world not because there is no misery or suffering present, but intact because this misery, this suffering, just like happiness, is perceived as part of life, as a destiny that can be trusted, encountered, and faced within the community.

Mariana Leky is a great storyteller. In What You Can See From Here, she sets off fireworks of curious ideas and events. The strong plot along with the many quirky little descriptions of the protagonists’ everyday lives were especially touching and meaningful. I greatly appreciated the reminder of the power of community to create a safe place with a loving and affirming atmosphere. This novel is wonderfully entertaining and fabulous, of great wisdom and depth.

Thea Huth, October 2024

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