In this tightly constructed novella, del Buono ensures that the reader is gripped throughout by interweaving the developping story of Vita's summer at the college with her journey after she has been forced to leave the United States. The main story, told from Vita's perspective, is interrupted by press cuttings from the summer of 2013. We see the NSA scandal unravel as Zev's youthful idealism collides with Vita's more distant attitude. The increasing paranoia of being observed by American intelligence agencies is tangible.
Del Buono tells her story in short, vivid epidsodes, and her narrator is an astute observer of college life and those around her. She is also unflinching and unapologetic in her account of what it is like to be middle-aged woman with a younger lover. «Behind Bushes, Leaning Against the Wall» is a refreshing antdote to love stories and crime thrillers alike.
(Recommended by New Books in German, 40/2016)
Translation of title: Behind Bushes, Leaning Against the Wall
C.H. Beck, München 2016
ISBN: 978-3-406-69690-9