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Clara Fights in the Water: A Novel About Courage, Loss, and Friendship
Discover the novel “22 Bahnen” by Caroline Wahl about integration and mental health, with a film adaptation planned for 2026.
Clara Fights in the Water: A Novel About Courage, Loss, and Friendship
Caroline Wahl, an up-and-coming author in the German literary scene, published her debut novel “22 Bahnen” in 2022, which has now established itself as a popular work. The novel tells the moving story of 17-year-old Clara, who swims every day in the indoor pool where her father Michael works as a lifeguard. Clara's routine of swimming at six o'clock every morning is disrupted by her father's sudden heart disease and his impending operation. Michael often encourages her by saying, “Swim your 22 lengths and everything will be fine.” But the upcoming changes in her life bring with them emotional stress that Clara must cope with.
During her daily swimming sessions, Clara meets Leila, a classmate from a refugee family who is teased in the swimming club for being a “non-swimmer”. This encounter addresses important questions of integration and family responsibility. The two young women form a friendship, and Clara plans to compete in the regional swimming tournament to show her belonging not only to her father, but also to Leila, who both miss for different reasons.
A novel with depth
“22 Lanes” is more than just a coming-of-age novel; he also covers the topics of mental health and dealing emotionally with challenges. Wahl's language is described as clear and poetic, interspersed with emotional flashbacks from Clara's childhood. In the work, water serves as a metaphor for change and freedom, which plays an important role for the protagonists.
The target groups for the novel are not only young adults, but also families with care responsibilities as well as swimming coaches and sports educators. This shows how relevant Wahl's issues are in today's society.
Recognition and future projects
Caroline Wahl was born in Mainz in 1995 and grew up near Heidelberg. She studied German in Tübingen and Berlin. Before establishing herself as a novelist, she began her career as a journalist. The success of “22 Bahnen” brought her a lot of recognition: the novel was on the shortlist for the German Book Prize and was named the Independents’ Favorite Book in 2023. She also received the Ulla Hahn Author Prize, the Grimmelshausen Promotion Prize and the Family Novel Prize from the Ravensburger Verlag Foundation for her debut.
Caroline Wahl, now 29 years old and living in Rostock, is not only working on her debut, but has already published other works, including “The World is a Game” and “The Art of Happiness”. Her works show a further development and deepening of her thematic focus.
The novel “22 Bahnen” will soon be adapted into a film. Filming is scheduled to begin in Hamburg in late fall 2025, with a planned theatrical release in spring 2026. Reading ring reports on the many facets that make the story of Clara and her challenges so compelling, while TVShowStars offers further interesting insights into the life and career of Caroline Wahl.