Rats Swim in Circles

At first glance, Natasha has an ideal life: she is preparing her dissertation and works with her husband at a biology institute—something many people dream of.

But at night, anxious dreams come to her: as if she is swimming in a tank together with lab rats, scrambling desperately with her paws, until her breath runs out.

Gradually it turns out that Natasha went to the biology faculty not by her own choice—her mother decided for her. Her mother is gone, but her husband is right there, for whom her creative interests are just a whim and pointless waste of money.

Natasha herself wants to be a photographer, but she hears the countdown again—she has to keep going in this endless swim, round after round.

And yet, maybe on another turn of this exhausting race, a second wind will wake up in her, and she will find the courage to say: “I can’t do this anymore.”

A redemption novel about finding support and meaning, about the ringing emptiness inside and not loving oneself—first of all; and about the fact that it’s never too late to stop the endless running and finally choose the life of your dreams.