Three Comrades

»I am not: the incarnation of an integrated society. I am not: the girl you can look at and declare with pity that you take an interest in migrants. I am not: the girl from the ghetto. I am: the girl from the ghetto.« 

Nominated for the German Book Prize 2021, Shida Bazyar’s novel makes it clear right up front how questionable it is to categorise and classify people. Why should people play along in the »clear definition« game, if they know all too well what it means to be continuously questioned because of their origin wherever they go? In a witty, funny, outrageous and playfully unreliable manner that leaps back and forth, Bazyar tells the story of a very special friendship between three young women that oppose violence, hate and ignorance with solidarity. Hani, Kasih and Saya stand together come what may. Until one dramatic night shakes that confidence.