Clara fights in the water: a novel about courage, loss and friendship

Clara fights in the water: a novel about courage, loss and friendship

Caroline Wahl, an emerging author in the German literary scene, published her debut novel "22 Lahnen" in 2022, who has now established itself as a popular work. The novel tells the moving history of 17-year-old Clara, who swims every day in the indoor pool, where her father Michael works as a lifeguard. Clara's routine, swimming every morning at six o'clock, is thrown off the track by her father's sudden heart disease and his upcoming operation. Michael often encourages them with the words: "Swim your 22 lanes and everything will be fine." But the upcoming changes in their lives bring emotional stress that Clara has to cope with.

During her daily swimming aisles, Clara meets Leila, a classmate from a refugee family who is teased as a "non -swimmer" in the swimming club. This encounter addresses important questions of integration and family responsibility. The two young women make a friendship, and Clara plans to compete at the regional swimming tournament in order not only to their father, but also Leila, who are missing the two for various reasons.

a novel with depth

"22 lanes" is more than just a coming-of-age novel; He also deals with mental health and emotional use of challenges. Wahl's language is described as clear and poetically described, through emotional flashbacks from Clara's childhood. The water serves in the work as a metaphor for change and freedom that plays an important role for the protagonists.

Target groups for the novel are not only young adults, but also families with nursing responsibility as well as swimming trainers and sports educators. This shows how relevant the topics of choice 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 studies in Tübingen and Berlin. Before she established herself as a novelist, she started her career as a journalist. The success of “22 Lahnen” brought her a lot of recognition: the novel was on the shortlist for the German Book Prize and was recognized in 2023 as the favorite book of the independent. In addition, she received the Ulla Hahn Author Prize, the Grimmelshausen Promotion Prize and the Family Roman Prize of the Ravensburger Verlag Foundation for her debut.

Caroline Wahl, now 29 years old and living in Rostock, not only works on her debut, but has already published further works, including "The world is a game" and "The Art of Happiness". Your works show a further development and deepening of your thematic focus.

The novel "22 Lahnen" will soon also be adapted as a film. The shooting is scheduled to begin in late autumn 2025, with a planned cinema release in spring 2026. Reading do, while TVShow stars offers further interesting insights into life and career by Caroline Wahl.