The Night Train by Sebastian Fitzek: The confusion of the train

US author Madeline Miller has published a new novel titled Mestra, which expands upon a minor character found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The book, released by Eisele, consists of eighty pages and is priced at 16.95 euros. Miller previously gained acclaim for her novel Circe, which transformed the sorceress from Homer’s Odyssey into a central protagonist. In this latest work, she applies a similar narrative treatment to Mestra, a woman whom Ovid originally described in only a brief passage. The story centers on Mestra, the daughter of Erysichthon. According to the myth recounted in the text, the goddess Ceres cursed Erysichthon with insatiable hunger after he cut down one of her forests, an act that included the killing of nymphs. To obtain food, Erysichthon sold his daughter. As compensation for her sale, Poseidon granted Mestra the ability to transform, following a sexual assault by the god. She used this power to escape her first owner by turning into a muscular fisherman. Her father subsequently exploited her talent, selling her repeatedly under different guises, including as a woman, a cook, a horse, and a cow. Mestra eventually escaped again by transforming into a bird. Miller gives Mestra her own narrative voice and endows her with the self-confidence to rebel against her father, who demands increasingly more from her over time. The slim volume features dynamic illustrations by Thomke Meyer. It includes Ovid’s original account alongside Miller’s expansion, demonstrating how gaps in the mythological canon can be filled with modern storytelling techniques. In related literary news, German thriller writer Sebastian Fitzek has released a new crime novel titled Der Nachtzug (The Night Train). Published by Droemer Knaur, the 352-page book costs 27.95 euros. Fitzek celebrated twenty years as a best-selling thriller author earlier this year with a show for 20,000 guests at the Berlin Waldbühne. His breakthrough came in 2006 with Die Therapie. Critics have often noted his preference for settings involving psychiatric facilities, kidnapped children, and graphic violence. TV literature critic Denis Scheck has frequently criticized Fitzek’s work, describing it as voyeuristic. Fitzek dismissed such criticism during his anniversary celebration, joking about the high body count in his books compared to the low number of sex scenes. Der Nachtzug follows Adrian Corvin, a Berlin lawyer whose wife is found dead with a severed throat while his son Emil goes missing. Corvin identifies the killer through a phone call made from his terrace. He travels to Prague to identify the suspect in a lineup but receives a ticket for a luxury night train back to Berlin. The killer informs him that defending her is the only way to save his son. The plot relies on this specific route, though critics question why the train must travel slowly given the short distance between Prague and Berlin. The novel serves as a chamber piece for Fitzek’s twentieth anniversary, avoiding some of his usual violent narratives while referencing previous works like Passagier 23. The book includes an afterword where Fitzek addresses the suffering of female characters in his fiction. Additionally, Austrian author Annika Büsing discussed her new novel Magisch on the Falter book podcast. The story follows Marie and Paul, former punk teenagers from a small village who return home after fifteen years apart. Marie failed as a teacher in a nearby city, while Paul had lived in Berlin. Their hometown remains largely unchanged, except for political shifts, as Marie’s older brother has joined the AfD party. The podcast episode explores themes of second chances and political influence on personal relationships. The book is published by S. Fischer and priced at 24.70 euros. Other titles featured in the same podcast episode include Michael Pedersen’s Der letzte Leuchtturm and Valeria Gordeev’s Die Zikade entschlüpft ihrer goldglänzenden Hülle.