Katharina Geiser Vorübergehend Wien (Vienna, Temporarily) Paul Zsolnay Verlag, March 2006, 304 pp ISBN: 3-552-05366-2 In a book that defies conventional classification, Geiser creates a story about Vienna - the Vienna that Arnold Schönberg knew - and its dark underbelly, represented by the time, in 1938, when the lives of the Jewish Viennese changed for ever. Drawn irresistibly to the city after hearing snatches of a friend's family history, the main character, a young Swiss woman called Jula Fink, goes in search of traces of a Jewish couple, Franz and Anni Bial, and cannot rest until she finds out more. She visits the Jewish Museum in Vienna. She and the reader also encounter other figures from the past, such as Karl Kraus and Gustav Klimt, with the stories of their lives and loves. Fiction with a touch of the travel book to add zest, this is a compelling read over which the spirit of W.G.Sebald hovers. 'Katharina Geiser's language arouses all the senses. One can smell, see, touch, hear and feel the sounds on one's tongue. How does she do it? It's her curiosity for the nuances of the world and for the words which flock to her.' Peter von Matt.