Dora Heldt – författare

To Christine, her Aunt Inge and Uncle Walter are reliable fixtures in the family, dependable and destined to be together forever. So when she spies Inge in the company of a man who is most certainly not her husband, life as Christine knows it takes a turn for the unexpected. Suddenly, what began as a blissful vacation with her gorgeous boyfriend on her native island of Sylt has morphed into a family drama of epic proportions—and a rude wake-up call for Christine. Because compared to the newfound passion with which sixtysomething Inge is tackling each day, Christine’s supposedly fabulous life seems downright dull. Christine decides it’s time to make some drastic changes…but will she ruin the great life she already has in the process?

Still reeling from her recent divorce, Christine, the beloved protagonist of Dora Heldt’s uproarious Life After Forty, is sure that yet another birthday is the last thing she needs. But here it comes nonetheless, the big 4-4, in all its lonely midlife glory. Making matters worse is Christine’s fear that she has always relied too heavily on the support of her girlfriends. As the big day nears, she begins to think that none of those women can understand just what she’s going through. Alarmed by Christine’s growing despair, her best friend and sister hatch a plan to prove her wrong: They will gather together all of Christine’s old friends from the various stages of her life and throw a surprise party the likes of which she has never seen. Of course, finding all of those women turns out to be easier said than done! The final result proves to be a priceless gift, a moving and laugh-out-loud funny portrait of one woman as told through the stories of her friendships.

When Christine’s husband of ten years dumps her over the phone while she watches a Hugh Grant film she is sent spinning on a cathartic, self-medicated journey to the land of self-acceptance and self-reliance. Surrounded by her sister and a strong support group of friends, Christine learns how to deal with the horrors of dating, finding new appliances, and the exhilarating feeling of shopping without consequence.

An uproarious look at the suddenly single life of a divorcee, Dora Heldt’s first book to appear in English captures the zeitgeist of the new millennium with searing insight while never deigning to take itself too seriously. Sparkling dialogue and unforgettable characters create a vibrant world of sardonic, take-no-prisoners women who hold their own in a world geared toward acceptance of their younger selves. Not since Bridget Jones’ Diary or Sex in the City has anything like Life After Forty so accurately and thoroughly expressed the modern female point of view with such startling clarity.

When an old friend invites her to help renovate a bar in a posh resort town, single gal Christine immediately agrees, anticipating two blissful weeks of sun, cocktails, and gorgeous men. Her excitement is short-lived, however, thanks in no small part to her overbearing mother and one heavy-handed guilt trip. Now, for the first time in nearly thirty years, Christine and her best friend Dorothea find themselves saddled with an unexpected chaperone: Christine’s father, Heinz.

The trip is a catastrophe from the get-go. For starters, Heinz insists on taking charge of the bar’s overhaul. And when he learns that the locals are hunting for an escaped con artist, he promptly joins the investigation. At the top of his suspect list? Johann, the handsome, mysterious traveler who makes Christine go weak at the knees. But just when she thinks she can’t take one more day of his “father knows best” routine, Christine makes a poignant realization that will forever change the way she looks at Heinz.

Sparkling with humor, this delightful novel, which spent over one hundred weeks on Germany’s bestseller list, captures the unique—and occasionally exasperating—bond between fathers and daughters.