I Keep My Shadow Light is a darkly funny social commentary novel about feeling lost and learning how to belong in Berlin.
A group of unemployed Aüslanders (foreigners) are taught how to become valuable Germans on an Integrationskurs. Maeve, Zehra, Viktor and Karam are the core four - all lost and lonely 20-somethings newly arrived in big bad Berlin. They keep going thanks to their dark sense of humour, semi-reliable friends, exciting parties, romantic distractions and warm classroom community.
The book explores:
• The relationship between the individual and the state • Trying to overcome the loneliness you feel when you arrive in a brand new foreign city • European and personal identity • Friendship • The feeling of being lost • Immigration issues in Germany • Berlin
