Booktrail: Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum

In the first of a new series The Booktrail talks us through the settings and story of Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum. 

A story of a woman on the edge, and the unravelling of her life in quiet, unassuming Switzerland. Quiet, orderly Zurich is the setting here for an explosive story of Anna Bentz and her reckless life which spirals into chaos and tragedy. "Hausfrau" - the word for housewife, homemaker and wife. But Anna is none of these... She feels trapped, lost and very, very alone.

Welcome to Dietlikon Zurich for a booktrail around the locations evoked in the novel.

The calm cool Swiss exterior of Zurich
The calmness and snow capped mountains evoke a paradise setting but this one is marred with tragedy and despair. The mountains might be cloaked in a shroud of beautiful snow but what lies beneath is ugly and dark:  “The Alps are the door I am locked behind".

The Zurich suburb of Dietlikon
The region of Dietlikon is the Zurich Suburb where Anna lives behind a facade of a happy marriage and carefree life. It’s the main setting of the novel and from where her life spirals out of control. “It was close enough to Zurich to be met by two city trains. It was near a large shopping centre. Its roads were safe and the houses were well kept and the town’s motto held great promise”.  It's motto is "Menchlich, Offen, Modern" which means "Personal, Open, Modern" - but Anna begs to differ. 

Rosenweg Street 
Anna and her family live on Rosenweg street which Anna calls "Last Exit Road". This shows her state of mind from the outset. So cocooned in a trap of unhappiness, Anna takes her troubles and thoughts to her therapist, taking a train into Zurich central to meet her.

Trittligasse - Where Anna receives counselling
Anna’s Zurich is one tainted by pain and suffering. Starting with the therapy room where she shares and examines why she is so unhappy with life and what she hopes to achieve by having so many short lived affairs. Her therapist believes that her married life is too similar to that of her parents’ and her strict upbringing. But then she also tells her: “You’ve also described the Swiss.”Outside of the therapy room, her life hurtles from one event to another - from one illicit affair to another and with it, there is a gradual reveal of her vision of Zurich and Switzerland. She sees it as a kind of torture, this land of perfection where trains run like clockwork. It’s not just an adage, it’s an absolute fact: Swiss trains run on time.

Hauptbahnhof (main train station)
Anna doesn’t drive and seems to be dependent on her family and friends to take her places, so trains are how she gets around. The affairs she embarks on are mentioned as being near a certain tram stop or station such as Archie who she meets at German class and who lives near Nierdorf. She also spends much of time at the Hauptbahnhof where she changes trains and runs from one lover’s bed to another. And all the while, Anna has a sense that Switzerland is watching and judging her.

The Fraumünster church 
“Everywhere you turn the eyes of God are on you.” The Fraumünster is famous for its Chagall designed stained glass windows, but Anna sees no beauty in the religious and historically renowned churches in the old town. On a booktrail however, the churches of the old town make for excellent landmarks and a very interesting view of the city. This is the Zurich we see via the train network and the many journeys Anna takes  - across the city from one end to another.
 

Zurich’s Grossmuenster
She stumbles along the narrow cobbled streets of Zurich’s old town and looks up at the cathedral. The cathedral is a heavy building, medieval grey and inimitable, with two symmetrical towers that rise flush against the church’s facade and high above its vaulted roof like hare’s ears at attention. Or cuckold’s horns.

Greifensee and its castle  
An area where Anna's friend Mary and her family live. They take the train there, of course, and this place at first seems like an escape from Anna’s life and ultimately from Zurich.

Zurich Zoo
Normally an area of beauty and escapism in the city, Anna feels as trapped as the animals in the cages. An event occurs here where Anna is to feel that finally her life has spun out of control.

Anna’s Zurich is an interesting one. As well as the locations and the prominence of the train journeys, there are more lighthearted moments which also paint a picture of a city undergoing change. From the sparkly Glatt river whose name in German means "smooth" - to the Migros empire of supermarkets with their soundtrack of 1980s music, this Zurich is one which haunts Anna in every way. Even the language she’s learning seems to mock her with its accusative case. Her Scottish lover Archie “was terrible with possessives. It didn’t matter what belonged to whom. All were free to use”. 

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Photo credits
1 The Alpine View of Switzerland
Copyright: Switzerland Tourism/Jan Geerk
2 Main train station
Wikipedia
3 Fraumünster church 
Copyright: Zuerich Tourismus/Martin Ruetschi
4 Zurich old town
Copyright: Switzerland Tourism/Rubiano Soto
5 A tram in front of the Grossmuenster
Copyright: Switzerland Tourism By-Line/Christof Schuerpf
6 (homepage) Cathedral and view of St Peter at night
Copyright: Zuerich Tourismus/Martin Ruetschi