review
‘Ten Pictures of a Love’ is an accomplished novel that speaks to contemporary debates around gender roles, motherhood, and masculine identity.
The novel focuses on a relationship that – on paper, at least – sounds unworkable. Luisa, 31, and David, 19, first meet on the Greek island of Milos in 2012 when Luisa is married to Holger and newly pregnant. David has just left school and is on holiday with his parents before starting his law degree. ‘Love in Ten Pictures’ follows their developing relationship from the point when they re-encounter one another in Berlin in 2019 through to October 2023, and is set against personal, societal, and familial changes.
Luisa and David are two very different yet equally well-drawn protagonists. David has abandoned university and joined two of his friends in a boat restoration business. In 2019 one of the friends invites a casual acquaintance – Luisa – to their business launch party. David recognises Luisa as she dances and Luisa remembers the ‘little poet’, as she had dubbed him on Milos. The connection between them builds from there.
Luisa learns to share the care of her daughter Ronya with David in their new family unit, to which David would love to add a biological child of his own. His desire for a child drives a wedge between him and Luisa and threatens to destroy their blended family. The couple also have to contend with the loss of David’s parents in an accident and the death of Luisa’s mother.
The novel is written in the third person and portrays the couple’s relationship through ten episodes from their initial meeting in 2012, through to the final episode in 2023, which brings the couple and Ronya back to the island of Milos where they first met. Each episode has two sections showing the contrasting perspectives of David and Luisa. The minor characters reflect the diversity of contemporary Germany and the diverse nature of modern families.
‘Ten Pictures of a Love’ stands out for its immediacy and the relevance of its themes. Readers will empathise with the characters and their dilemmas and feel invested in the success of Luisa and David’s relationship. Hannes Köhler’s charming love story will resonate with readers of David Nicholl’s One Day and Benedict Wells’ The End of Loneliness.
Find out more: https://www.fva.de/Buecher/Neuerscheinungen/Zehn-Bilder-einer-Liebe.html
All recommendations from Spring 2025