My Soul Twin

In this follow-up to Georgia-born, Germany-based Haratischvili’s multi-award-winning The Eighth Life, Stella lives a charmed life in Hamburg, Germany: her documentary filmmaker husband is handsome and supportive, her six-year-old son is precocious and engaged, and she is a successful writer for a small magazine. But her carefully constructed world falls apart when her adoptive brother, Ivo, reappears after an eight-year absence. Many years ago, Ivo came to live with Stella’s family after his mother died and his father was imprisoned. As it turns out, Stella’s father was having an affair with Ivo’s mother. As events escalated, Stella’s mother was forced to move to the United States, leaving Stella and her sister with their father’s aunt, and Ivo’s reappearance reignites this past history and trauma. Stella leaves her husband and son and travels to Tbilisi, Georgia, to be with Ivo while he is on assignment as a freelance reporter. In contrast to Hamburg’s gloominess and dampness, Georgia is hot, dangerous, and vital.