QUEEN SACRIFICE

  • A great discovery – the life of one of the most courageous and exciting women of the early 20th century: the revolutionary and spy Larissa Reissner.
  • 110,000 copies sold of his previous novels Monschau and Propaganda.
  • His novel Risiko, which sold 90,000 copies, was nominated for the German Book Prize.
  • English sample translation is available.
  • Further rights available: Grand Tour, Propaganda, Monschau, Risiko, Der letzte Dieb, Atom.

Moscow, 1923. Larissa Reissner, as a Soviet ambassador in Kabul, has discovered strategic plans that could overthrow the British Empire. In the shimmering capital, where the world is being rethought and reinvented, she searches for the author, a German named Niedermayer. The victory of freedom is Reissner's meaning of life. The young writer and revolutionary is celebrated as a miracle daughter of her epoch. Coming from an illustrious family, she met Lenin as a child, she fought as political commissar of the Volga fleet; Pasternak and Trotsky admired her. From Moscow, Reissner sets off for Berlin – to go on her greatest mission: to assist a creation of a secret alliance between the Soviet Union and the German military, personified by General Tuchachevsky, the "Red Napoleon", and dazzling Oskar von Niedermayer. But Larissa pursues her own goals. A web of relationships develops between her and the two men that has enormous explosive power – both amorously and politically.

An extraordinary novel in which Ho Chi Minh has his say as well as the Lord Seal Keeper of the British Empire or the poet princess Anna Akhmatova. Steffen Kopetzky captures the life of Larissa Reissner, who wanted nothing less than to change the world.

“Kopetzky is a brilliant storyteller.” ZDF Morgenmagazin
„This balance of craft and substance is rare.“ FAZ
„Kopetzky is one of the most important German writers of our time.“ Berliner Zeitung
"Kopetzky shows impressive talent in recreating the historical landscape with precision and care, while masterfully bringing to life the characters within it. He navigates the line between history and fiction with such skill that it feels as though he is drafting the script for a cinematic epic." Corriere della Sera

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  • Publisher: Rowohlt Berlin
  • Release: 15.08.2023
  • ISBN: 978-3-7371-0151-6
  • 448 Pages
  • Author: Steffen Kopetzky

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Buchcover von QUEEN SACRIFICE
Steffen Kopetzky QUEEN SACRIFICE
Portrait von Steffen Kopetzky
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Steffen Kopetzky

Steffen Kopetzky , born in 1971, is the author of novels, stories, radio plays and theatre plays. His novel Risiko (2015) was on the Spiegel bestseller list for months and was nominated for the German Book Prize, while Propaganda  (2019) was nominated for the Bavarian Book Prize. From 2002 to 2008, Kopetzky was the artistic director of the Theatre Biennale Bonn. He lives in his hometown Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm with his family.