Judith Kuckart

The unfortunate Jule Seidensticker moves from Frankfurt to Berlin. On April 21, as she carries her last carton into the new apartment on the fourth floor, the telephone rings. A man calls from abroad and asks for the previous tenant, Manuela Wendt. Karl. Nice! Jule thinks, and stands beside the answering machine without picking up the phone. Yes, every one of the people who call and ask to speak to the former tenant are nice. Much nicer than the people who know Jule in real life. She finds the voice of the caller of April 21, who repeatedly calls from abroad and asks for Manuela Wendt, particularly gripping. Karl. One night, she picks up. Hi Karl, she says, hoping that - so far, far away -he does not realize that she is not the right one.
The story takes its course. Jule Seidensticker, obsessed with Karl, slips into the life of Manuela Wendt and applies under the name Wendt for a job at the theater. Manuela Wendt's life becomes a promising adventure for Jule Seidensticker. When she begins timidly to speak of happiness for herself, Karl himself appears.

"... a human study that, with wit and subtlety, explores the tragic-comic touch points between human encounters and one’s own position." (Neue Westfälische)