‘Blutbuch’ by Kim de l’Horizon

‘Blutbuch’ (English: ‘Sea, Mothers, Swallow, Tongues’) by Kim de l’Horizon is powerful, poetic, and deeply deserving of the German Book Prize.

This autofictional novel chronicles Kim’s attempt to retrace the past—particularly that of their female ancestors—while navigating a queer, nonbinary present. In Kim’s family, the women speak often but avoid the unspeakable. The men remain silent. Kim, instead, writes.

Fragmented memories, bodily experiences, and family trauma are explored through shifting voices, intimate reflection, and radical vulnerability. The novel is as much about language as it is about identity: Kim plays with Standard German, Swiss German, and English, blending registers, styles, and tones to powerful effect.

This is not an easy read. It is complex, experimental, and unflinching—especially when it comes to gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. But it is also moving, angry, tender, and bold. A literary act of reclamation.

CW: explicit sexual content, dysphoria, family trauma and emotional abuse, repression and intergenerational silence, misogyny and gendered violence, mental health struggles