‘The older I get, the more I believe that the two of us were only invented for you. And if there ever was a good reason to be invented, then it’s you.’

This on-the-face-of-it light-hearted, and quirky translated fiction, has a true underlying beauty and provokes thought in the most of gentle of ways.

Set in a small village in West Germany, written in first person from the perspective of Luisa, we are familiarised with her family and friends, the village habits and superstitions. We then journey with Luisa as she grows from a child to an adult, and the village and characters change over time as they discover their purpose in life, learn to love and learn to lose.

Although I loved the style of writing (at times it felt stylistically like a literary version of Amelie, which I love!!) I did sometimes feel that the words were a little cluttered and it did feel quite repetitive and detailed. I wonder whether this was a symptom of the ‘quirkiness’ of the novel and writing, or whether, perhaps, it was a result of the translation.

The character building is exquisite, and I was quickly endeared and captivated by the vibrancy of the people central to the plot. I particularly loved Selma and The Optician.

Although there are moments of sadness, the humour and farcical nature of some of the plot did lighten these moments. Sometimes this was for the better, but for some moments I wish there had been a little longer pause to reflect.

Under the surface, this novel had some truly stunning reflections on life, love, loss and beauty in the mundane and it really strikes a chord. It is wonderfully optimistic and uplifting and I am incredibly grateful to netgalley for providing me with a free eARC of this novel

This was a gentle if rather strange book and it took me much longer than normal to read and get into it. I finished it and I am surprised to find bits of it still popping into my mind so it must have had more impact than I realised.. I had to look up some things just so that I could picture them, the Okapi being the main one. The description was good but I needed to see for myself.

I didn't really feel invested in any of the characters, maybe because I couldn't relate to them and their behaviour. I found them all to be frustrating and wanted to push them to do the things they held back on. I think this is wholly intentional and clever of the author but it didn't really work for me. . Luisa is the main character and is a child at the beginning of the book and around 30 at the end. She lives with her grandmother and spends a lot of time being taught life skills by her and a mostly nameless Optician. She has a childhood friend called Martin and a range of villagers who pop in and out. Her parents seem particularly feckless and uncaring.

Perhaps something was lost in translation for me The mention of the grandmother looking like a TV presenter I had never heard of probably made more sense to those in the original country.

Overall sadly I didn’t enjoy the book and that is probably more about me than the book as most of the reviews I have read seem to be very positive.

Thank you to Netgalley for a review copy.

This international best-seller has finally been translated from German and released in English: set in a small rural village in West Germany, What You Can See From Here opens with the news that Selma has dreamed of an okapi, which means one of the community will die in the next twenty-four hours. Selma’s ten-year-old grandaughter Luisa introduces us to the ensemble cast of unforgettable characters: the optician who has spent his life silently adoring Luisa’s grandmother, her hard-working mother and father, her very best friend Martin – all within anecdotes and village legends shared in that overly-familiar way where the speaker assumes you’re already familiar with all the parties involved, and as asking for clarification would slow the pace of the excellent story, you simply nod and encourage them to continue, and slowly construct fully-rounded people from these shards of stories. Packed with diversions, hilarious set pieces and hand-to-mouth tragedies, this cheerfully intimate book is a treat of a read: a properly immersive, semi-surrealist experience that features (amongst many things) a monk from Japan, a Little Women-style romantic walk in the rain, and a truly excellent dog called Alaska. It is far-fetched in precisely the way that real life is, when you think about it: as with the best stories, sometimes you simply had to be there, and this book allows you to do just that.

I love this book! The synopsis doesn’t do this book justice. So here’s a quote that shows how poetic the entire thing is. “While Selma let her thoughts wander, she read mine, which refused to wander anywhere; they wrapped themselves around me and the surrounding tree trunks like garlands of letters.”

The whole thing is written in kind of a riddle. Once I got into the rhythm of this sweet, strange, smart, and funny little book, I never wanted it to end. It’s like all the characters say things just to humor each other and elicit a sad, sideways little smile. You haaaave to read this one!

Unlike anything I've ever read before - I enjoyed 'What You Can See From Here although it is a slow starter'. A girl's grandma dreams of an okapi and village folklore means that this is a foreteller of death. Villagers are all understandably curious if it is them who is going to die, and their desire to clear the air means secrets are outed and shared amongst everyone, with repercussions far and wide. i dont often read translated fiction and will certainly look out for more in the future

The book takes you into the lives of Luisa and her family and friends. In some ways they’re representative of people and themes many of us can empathise with. The cast of characters cover the ages of man, from the young through to the elderly, from those who’re content with their lot, the chronically melancholic, through to restless seekers of their own truths and even some who we think have found serenity only to have it challenged and overturned by the power of love.

Their stories take us through the big themes of life, falling in, and out of, love, heartbreak, loss, the pain of rejection, or fear of it, travelling to find ourselves - spiritually and literally, and ultimately death. As we get to know them better, the inter-twining of their lives reminds us that nothing is forever and that we shouldn’t take things for granted. In these pandemic times this made the book particularly poignant for me.

This was a very odd book, the writing (and translation) were beautiful and the basic plot was great - it kept me guessing and surprised all the way through and yet I think that there is a deeper level to this book that I just didn't understand - perhaps as a book group read it would become more clear as there would be other people to discuss the meaning with.

The story of Luisa and her grandmother Selma who live in a small village in Germany. Whenever Selma dreams of an okapi someone in the village dies. It's translated from the original German and although this sometimes means it comes across as stilted occasionally I enjoyed the book.

I will update the review with a link to our blog closer to publication date.
I'd like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

*I received a free copy of this novel to review from Net Galley*

This is a quirky novel translated from German about Luisa and her grandmother who is able to predict that someone in their village will die when she dreams of an okapi (an obscure African animal). The novel focuses on a group of villagers and is partially set in the 1980s when Luisa is a child and then jumps to when she’s in her twenties. It’s about unrequited love, family, neighbours and belief. This was a quick and easy read but some of the jokes just didn’t translate - for example Selma apparently resembles a Dutch tv host. I also never really felt emotionally invested with the characters and the plot, hence the three star rating.

I loved getting to know all the characters, including Luisa, the main character's family home with its quirks intertwined with the story of its construction. Luisa, as the story-teller, spins a wonderful tale. I felt like I was part of her village and knew her grandmother, the optician and her great aunt too. The village joins her in experiencing loss, acceptance and discovering love. This is an enchanting story and a wonderful reminder of why I enjoy fiction.

A quirky tale full of lovable eccentric characters and a couple of very odd animals, who actually make this book for me. The most obvious one is the okapi, which is depicted on the cover and is also a metaphor for death in the dreams of a grandmother. The fear of the omen hangs over everyone throughout the book even though everyone pretends that they are not superstitious.

The story is set in a German village and is narrated by a girl, the granddaughter, in three time periods, starting from when she is ten years old. At first the tale is jumpy and a little odd, with the unusual characters and their strange sayings and philosophies. So much so that it may have ended up being a fairy tale or book touching on the magical realism genre. But it settles down as the child grows up, gets a job and falls for a Buddhist monk who lives mainly in Japan. The best character is the deerhound named Alaska who was prescribed to the narrator's father as method to externalise his pain. He isn't an ordinary dog, either.

This is a book about love, death, community and acceptance, but mostly it's about perception. Sometimes moving away from what you are looking at enables you to see it more clearly. Thoughtful, witty and highly original, the most hopeful book of the year.

I don’t have the words to describe just how good this book is but I can see why it is a bestseller as it is one of the most evocative books I have read in a long time.
It is an unusual story about a group of disparate characters living in a small village somewhere in Germany and Mariana Leky has managed to weave a world which draws the reader in making one feel as if they want to be a part of the lives they are reading about.
I cannot praise this book too highly; it is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

This is a delightful and unusual book which rewards perseverance. Initially I thought it to be a quirky feelgood story like many others available at the moment and I would have been quite content with that. But as the story progressed, it became rather more than I had thought.

This is a story of community and acceptance. Louisa grows up in a small German village, raised more by her grandmother and an elderly friend, The Optician, than by her parents. Her parents love her but have their own preoccupations. Selma, Louisa’s grandmother, and The Optician, love her unconditionally and are always there for her. Louisa has just one friend, Martin, who wants to be a weightlifter. He too, has a less than perfect parent. Selma and The Optician guide and raise him too.

As the story opens, Selma has dreamt of an okapi. When she dreams of an okapi, someone in the village dies…
Throughout this book there is humour and warmth but also sadness and longing. There are life messages for those who choose to pick them out and ponder but there is plenty here too for those who prefer a quirky tale with loveable characters.

I loved this book and recommend it highly. The translation is seamless. And the significance of the okapi is revealed in the closing pages!

What a memorable book! A unique and captivating story unlike anything I've read before. The characters and setting are somehow comforting and familiar yet totally bizarre and dreamlike. After a slowish beginning I suddenly fell in love with the village’s community and was keen to keep reading. I was invested not only in the main character Luisa but in all the secondary quirky characters that live in the small German neighbourhood. Simultaneously beautiful and sad, this book will certainly stay with me for a long time. There were some German references which would have been nice to have more of an explanation or glossary at the back.

Luise lives in a small town in Germany.
In the first part of the book she is just a child when her grandmother dreams of an okapi, which means someone is going to die.
The rest of the book follows Luise and her family as she grows up.

An interesting and quirky read.

I struggled with this book as it is a translation of a German book and sometimes I can feel that between the lines and it reads differently for me.

Selma dreams of an animal called an "okapi" ( I had to look this up too ) and every time she does, someone in in the town dies. We learn about some characters here and time flips back and forwards, something else I struggled to keep up with.

You do learn to enjoy the characters in this book but at the same time, it was a bit fragmented for me as it went along.

This book is certainly thought provoking, however I did find it quite difficult to read at times as it felt a bit repetitive. I struggled to understand the estranged relationship between Luise and her parents. Life in a small German village was vastly different to my home life in a sleepy village in Wales. This book is definitely well written and the comparisons with day to day life and dreams was interesting. Unfortunately for me it wouldn't be a book I could personally recommend or read again, but that is just because this was not my cup of tea.

A beautiful but strange story full of hope, family, love, heartbreak and the lessons life teaches us.
What You Can See From Here is incredibly hard to describe or put in to words how it makes you feel. It follows Luise as she grows up in her small village along with her family and fellow villagers.
I thoroughly the life lessons the book teaches, the emotions it takes you through and the overall wiseness of it all. But again .. really struggling to quite put it all in to words! (Which I think adds to the whole magic of it)

This made me think about life and how we are perceived by others. It was not always easy to read and at times I struggled with relationships. Life in a German village felt different to my experiences here in England. I am not sure that I would choose to read this again as it is not really my cup of tea, although I appreciate that it was a good read for many.