Jens Petersen Die Haushälterin (The Housekeeper) Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 176 pp. ISBN: 3-421-05786-9 Longlisted for the German Book Prize Told with a notable lightness of touch, this debut novel convinced the jury with its deft treatment of an old subject – a sensitive, humorous and touching portrayal of a father and son. Sixteen-year-old Philipp is just beginning to come to terms with his mother’s death when a second disaster occurs – his father loses the job he both needed and loved. The two of them live in a stuffy house filled with antique furniture collected by the grandfather – and with no company except for the string of lovers his father has started bringing home. So poor Philipp already has plenty to cope with before his father’s further slide into depression and alcoholism. Enough is enough when Merz senior, in a drunken state, falls down the cellar stairs and is hospitalised. Philipp takes matters into his own hands and advertises for a housekeeper. Enter Ada, a twenty-three-year-old Polish student who does get their house in order but turns their lives upside-down in the process, for she becomes the object of both men’s desires. Heartache and conflict ensue as father and son deal with the progress of grief and an awakening of emotion – a sensitively portrayed rite of passage from boyhood to the adult world