"Tabakpech" tells the story of a woman's life and a family history in the years from 1930 to 1995: together with the main character Elfie, we experience the times of upheaval caused by the Second World War, learn about the agricultural cooperative economy in the GDR, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the decline of tobacco growing in the Uckermark.
Where today the only German floodplain national park extends and you can enjoy a unique landscape while cycling or hiking, a few decades ago there was still a center of German tobacco cultivation. In the Lower Oder Valley, where the borders of Prussia and Pomerania blur, Huguenots once settled and brought the culture of tobacco growing with them. Tobacco brought prosperity to the region and became the "gold of the Uckermark".
But it did not bring happiness to everyone. "Tobacco pitch", the sap that comes out of the plant during harvesting, sticks black to the farmers' hands. The "tobacco pitch" also sticks to Elfie, the main character of this captivating novel: Her dream of training as a singer in Berlin remains unfulfilled, she opts for duty and stays in her homeland as a tobacco farmer.
Author Eva-Martina Weyer accompanies her main character through the decades with empathetic and lively language - and paints a portrait not only of a special woman, but also of a unique landscape.
