Monika Maron's first novel, published in the West in 1981 after the authorities in East Germany blocked its appearance there. It deals specifically with the topic of industrial pollution, but more generally with the sclerotic political culture of the DDR as it was experienced by the generation of people born in the 1940s, who found it difficult to accept their elders’ assurance that the revolution was complete and they were already living in the socialist paradise, so that any criticism would only play into the hands of the evil capitalist West.

The young journalist Josefa is sent to write a magazine article about the industrial town of B. (Bitterfeld). She soon discovers that the real story is not about heroic workers exceeding plan targets, or the new swimming pool in the workers’ leisure centre, but about an outdated power plant that endangers the people working in it, as well as belching out 180 tons of fly ash a year over the town, making it “the most polluted place in Europe”. Industrial injuries and lung disease are at appallingly high levels in the area. Management and workers all want the plant decommissioned and replaced, but central government is deaf to their worries. Josefa writes about the situation, with a “naive” sense of justice, but of course nervous editors won’t publish her article. Maron shows us how the fear of expressing criticism built into the system creates a completely unnecessary conflict between Josefa and her colleagues, and eventually damages her personal life and her mental health.

A powerful, strongly felt book, which perhaps goes some way towards explaining why Maron is still regularly getting into trouble for saying the wrong thing. ( )