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Next Door Lived A Girl (2005) - Simon - 12-11-2025
Winner of the Low Fidelity press inaugural Novella Award, Next Door Lived a Girl is set in Wedersen, a working-class town in post-World War II Germany. It explores the dark transformation of young boys into young men. The town's veneer of peaceful industry barely conceals the ugly secrets that lie beneath. Moritz and his friends make a dangerous discovery that pulls them into a war with a rival gang, into the ruthless and cunning world of blackmail and consequence, and, ultimately, into a cascading series of events that will change the nature of their friendship, and their lives, forever. Written with an uncommon starkness and poetry, Next Door Lived a Girl is destined to find its place in the canon of great novellas alongside the likes of Harrison, Hemingway, and Roth.
Quote:If you thought Kiesbye's Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone was dark, well, let's just say THAT one is a rom-com compared to this book. In this one, his first novel, Kiesbye lets rip with a bloody, incest-soaked wallow through the mire.
What a way to grow up!
There is preteen sex, beatings, adults flirting and going nudge-nudge, young boys discovering someone's deepest, darkest secret and then doing a completely WRONG thing as a result, someone suffers a horrific beating and exacts an unbelievably violent revenge. And don't forget the incest!
The worst thing that happened to me growing up was finding really big spiders in my sandbox.
As you might have guessed, this is not the feel-good novel of this or any other year. I cringed and flinched and had to reread entire paragraphs because I couldn't quite believe what I'd just seen. This was a completely absorbing read and a great way to spend a dreary, rainy afternoon...but I wouldn't recommend it for most folks.