Heimat

Reading & Conversation withHannah Lühmann, Berlin | As part of Women's History Month 2026

What began as a trendy “look” among America’s social media stars is now spilling over into Germany’s mainstream: perfectly staged housewife idylls, self-proclaimed “tradwives,” subordination as a lifestyle. Hannah Lühmann’s novel picks up on this viral phenomenon—and tells how a seemingly harmless longing for order and tradition becomes a political program. When Jana moves to the countryside with her family, she quickly realizes that different rules apply here. Behind the bourgeois façade lurks a highly problematic worldview. Jana’s charismatic neighbor Karolin has also devoted herself entirely to the role of housewife and mother. The more time Jana spends with her, the clearer it becomes: Karolin is ultra-conservative in a contemporary, embellished way – a German version of the American “tradwife” who, in the name of tradition, fights against everything Jana stands for. Jana tries to resist the fascination, but repeatedly finds herself caught up in the disturbing thought that she envies Karolin for her seemingly perfect life… Lühmann wrote for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Die Zeit. From 2014 to 2025, she was senior editor in the culture section at Die Welt and Welt am Sonntag.