Ulrike Draesner Mitgift (Dowry) Luchterhand Literaturverlag, February 2002. 378 pp. ISBN 3-630-87117-8 Aloe is a young woman with more than her fair share of problems. Her boyfriend Lukas, whom she first met while a student at Oxford, is an astronomer more concerned with discovering new galaxies than with offering her the devotion (or even fidelity) she desires. But outside this not unusual sort of worry is a far deeper and more complex one. Her younger and more beautiful sister Anita is a hermaphrodite, a situation the reality of which is fudged by their parents with disastrous results. In Aloe in particular it sets up unhealthy reactions of shame, guilt, jealousy, deceit, doubts about her bodily identity and contempt for the social norms. Finally, despite her secure position as an arts manager in Munich, her sibling's attractive slimness and model looks push her to a further extreme, causing her to starve herself till she collapses through anorexia. How Aloe confronts her demons is one strand in this spectacular tale. Another is the tragic fate awaiting Anita and her husband, to whom she announces her intention of having a sex change just after she has born him a child. A third is the relationship between Aloe and Lukas, whom the reader is left feeling may, against the odds, come to good. But underpinning the whole is the message of the book's German title. Mitgift, a legacy or dowry, a present and a poison, is the universal inheritance of all of us, old as well as young, parents as well as children, and it is one that we cannot escape. 'Draesner's most impressive quality is her delight in telling a story', one critic has declared of the author. 'She sets off one linguistic firework after another'. This highly readable and intelligent novel scores on all counts. The jealousy between the sisters is particularly convincing, the flashback sequences add depth, the characterisation is strong and subtle. And the combination of 'commercial' storyline with literary style is an achievement in itself. With Oxford thrown in as a bonus for English readers, this book has a lot going for it.