The Novel
Lukas Hartmann: Dark Fortune
Novel. Diogenes. 304 Pages
The life of eight-year-old Yves is brutally torn apart in a single second, into a before and after. The psychologist Eliane Hess, who tries to help him overcome the loss of his parents, is both shocked and fascinated by the traumatised boy. His fate affects her – it shines into her own past. After the encounter with Yves, Eliane's life and that of her two daughters can no longer be the same. A touching novel about security and loss; about the family ties we cannot break and those we create ourselves.
»If our existence consists of ephemeral materials such as longing, love and fear, this family thriller offers timeless images to go along with it.« Evelyn Finger, Die Zeit
»"Dark Fortune" is a strong novel. It grabs the reader with all its might.«
Andreas Tobler, Tages-Anzeiger
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Lukas Hartmann on the film adaptation of "Dark Fortune"
»While writing my novel "Dark Fortune" I gradually learned more about my characters, from day to day I was able to imagine more precisely how they looked, talked and moved.
In the film version, this is much more different; only Yves, the orphaned boy, comes amazingly close to my inner image. These differences first irritated me, but then my literary imagination began to overlap; I perceived it as an independent and touching realisation of my story. What I wrote, I recognise again in the play of the actors, in the choice of images, in the rhythm of the plot. After I had seen the rough cut, I was happy to see how close the film with its means comes to my narrative style. I thank Stefan Haupt, I thank all those who took part in this production for their impressive commitment – and for remaining as true as possible to the spirit of my original.«