★German Journalist Award winner and author Kristen Heinkind's latest book in 2022.
★ A sober reflection after suffering and struggling against drugs in a family that has gone through hardships and struggles with drugs. The author records true stories and experiences, traces the root cause of the brother's drug abuse and its pain and serious effects, and discovers the truth behind the seemingly ordinary life.

It is late in the evening when the doorbell rings at Kerstin Herrnkind's front door. Two policemen are standing in front of the door. The journalist suspects bad things. And right. Your brother Uwe has been found dead. Died of a mix of heroin, alcohol, and medication.

He was a drug addict for almost twenty-five years. Mother, sister and friends tried everything to help him. He took him in, went to therapy, got him jobs, and yet kept giving him money because the way he suffered when he pushed a monkey was unbearable. After his death there remains a great sadness for the prodigal brother, the prodigal son, the prodigal friend. In the year of mourning, his sister, who never wanted to write about her brother, writes a book about the lost battle. Lets her mother tell stories, speaks to companions and fellow sufferers. Find the causes of his addiction. A childhood in the country, behind starched curtains, in a parental home that any youth welfare office would have found ideal.

Kerstin Herrnkind
Born in Bremen in 1965, after completing his studies, volunteered at the “Nordsee-Zeitung” and then went to the “taz”. In 1999 she moved to the »Stern«, where she has been working as a reporter ever since. She is the author of several non-fiction books and two crime novels. In 2016 she was awarded the German Reporter Prize. Kerstin Herrnkind lives in Lübeck and Hamburg.