Behind the perfect idyll lurks the "Tradwife" scene - Hannah Lühmann's novel about a viral topic and the shift to the right in our country

When Jana moves to the countryside with her family, she quickly realizes that different rules apply here. Behind the bourgeois façade lurks a highly problematic world view, with AfD being voted for as a matter of course. Jana's charismatic neighbor Karolin has also dedicated herself entirely to the role of housewife and mother. The more time Jana spends with Karolin, the more she realizes that she is ultra-conservative in a very contemporary way - as a "tradwife", she fights against everything Jana actually stands for in the name of tradition. Jana tries to defend herself against her fascination, and yet catches herself again and again with the disturbing thought that she envies Karolin's life ...

Hannah Lühmann, born in 1987, studied philosophy in Berlin and Paris. She has written for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" and "Die Zeit", among others. From 2014 to 2025, she worked as a senior editor in the culture department at "Welt" and "Welt am Sonntag". Hannah Lühmann lives as a freelance journalist with her family in Berlin.