Hibernation
Published by Diogenes as Winterschlaf
Original Title: Winterschlaf

When the snow in the Alps melts down into the valley below, the time has come: Mother wakes from her hibernation, her head filled with the dreams of the past months. She is awaited by Grandfather, and cared for by her children, the twins. Soon, the first visitors will arrive, because Mother’s dreams promise advice and give comfort. This is how it is, year after year. But this summer, the twins’ tenth, everything is about to change — and what Mother predicts will come true in an unexpected way.

Contemporary Literature, Debut, Novel
240 pages
2026

978-3-257-07394-2
Mario
Petuzzi

Mario Petuzzi, born in 1989 in Hall in Tirol, lives with his wife and daughter near Innsbruck. He studied Economics and Management, as well as Comparative Literature in Innsbruck and São Paulo. He participated in the Klagenfurt literary course and the Literary Colloquium Berlin’s novel workshop. Hibernation is his debut.

Photo: Michaela Kölle / Agentur Anzenberger / © Diogenes Verlag

Quotes

Uwe Sauerwein
Berliner Morgenpost

»Hibernation is anything but a bedtime story. You have to stay wide awake throughout.«