What You Can See From Here

I’ve never agreed with a review more - this book really does make you happy.

Set in a small village in Germany, the characters wake up to learn that Selma has dreamed of an Okapi*, an omen foretelling that someone will die that day. The book follows the quirky village characters and their relationships, sometimes referring to characters only by their occupation. The storyline is unusual and relatively uneventful but it’s told in such a warm and tender way that I was completely invested in Luisa and her life. It is sprinkled with magic realism so that mundane events seem incredible and moments of sitting in an ice-cream parlour is captivating. The novel draws on family, loss and love and the detailed descriptions make it a lovely, uplifting read.

Originally written in German the English translation is still beautiful, and the dialogue is witty and entertaining. Although published in 2017 it feels a timeless read and will become a classic.

*An okapi is a curious mix of a zebra and giraffe, which I didn’t realise existed before this book - look up an image if you haven’t heard of one.