We Are Light

Shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award Winner of the 2021 European Union Literature Prize

"A riveting experimental novel about a commune where the members’ belief that they can live on light and love alone proves fatal for one of them." ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

One apartment, three women, one man. One of the women is dead. When the emergency personnel arrive, they realize: Elisabeth starved to death, encouraged by her roommates.

In the middle of a summer night, Elisabeth, the oldest resident of the Sound & Love Commune, dies. Her sister Melodie and their two other housemates are arrested: the group’s attempts to stop eating and start living on light and love alone appears to have been fatal to Elisabeth. From unworldly idealists on the fringes of society, the three suddenly become suspects in a criminal case. Through the eyes of the night, the neighbors, doubt, the scent of an orange, and many other characters and entities, we see how each of those involved gives a different answer to the question of how Elisabeth came to die. Who is to blame? And does the commune still have a future? We Are Light is a highly original and entertaining novel about manipulation, vulnerability, and trying to be better.

© 2023 World Editions (Ebook): 9781642861303

Translators: Michele Hutchison

Release date

Ebook: 1 August 2023