California-born, Berlin-based Nell Zink is an idiosyncratic writer. You never quite know where her sentences are going to go. “Oh God, Toto, you won’t believe what just happened,” says Avianca, a character in her new novel. “This angel stole my hat. Like a winged monkey. It was blue and kind of glowing and had feather wings.”
Such delightfully surprising lines are frequent in Sister Europe, Zink’s seventh novel, which follows acclaimed titles The Wallcreeper, Doxology and Avalon, and is set over the course of a Tuesday night in 2023.
The setting is a ceremony for an Arabic literary prize, held at a hotel in Berlin. The ensemble cast includes Demian, a German art critic; Nicole, his transgender daughter; Toto, an American-born publisher; Avianca, Toto’s date, nicknamed “the Flake” because she tends to cancel on plans; Livia, who lives in a glass house built by her Nazi great-uncle; and Radi, an Arab prince and the grandson of the prize’s organiser. No one is particularly pleased to be there. The speeches drag and, it being a Muslim event, there isn’t even any alcohol to help pass the time.
The ramshackle group end up wandering the streets of the city, finding themselves at a party in the subway, and then at a Burger King. The conversation is as meandering as their route, taking in anti-Nazi activists – “Sophie Scholl was hot,” Nicole says – and why “beef is trans”. All evening, they are trailed by Klaus, an undercover police officer, who spotted Nicole loitering in the red-light district earlier and suspects she is a victim of trafficking.
Zink’s narration is cool, her humour is dry and her dialogue is convincing. But the promise of her characters’ quirkiness doesn’t in the end add up to much. Despite its early intrigue, the story feels disappointingly quiet by the end. “Life is all about raising expectations and seeing them crushed,” thinks Toto early on. A thought that fits Sister Europe too.
Sister Europe by Nell Zink is published by Viking (£14.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
