A road-trip across Europe and back in time through the Black Forest, 1960s Zimbabwe, Nazi Germany, and three generations of the Goldschmidt family to their heart and soul – from prize-winning debut graphic novelist
\\”Brilliant, witty and endlessly inventive – an intimate family portrait of astonishing historical reach. It’s warm, humane, complex and with a cumulative emotional power that floored me.\\” Joe Dunthorne, author of Submarine
A road-trip across Europe and back in time- the debut graphic memoir from the prize-winning author of A Funeral In Freiburg.
When her imperious, chain-smoking German Jewish grandmother dies, it falls to Astrid and her father to drive a hire van to the Black Forest and collect the family heirlooms from Gisela’s nicotine-stained apartment.
In Freiburg, they are faced with several lifetimes’ worth of belongings to sort through – infested Persian rugs, mysterious photographs, a toy monkey that started a marriage – and a grasping landlord, impatient to renovate.
As the list of demands from uncles, sisters and cousins grows longer, the rabbit-holes of history and memory grow deeper. Long-buried secrets and tales of survival are revealed – from Nazi Germany to colonial Africa – and old feuds are reignited, as father and daughter struggle with the responsibility of preserving the family legacy. More importantly, will they be able to fit everything into a medium wheel-base transit van?
Funny, bittersweet and beautifully drawn, The Crystal Vase is an odyssey of family arguments, identity crises, and late discoveries.
Format: Hardback
Pages: 208
Imprint: Jonathan Cape UK
Publication date: 28/01/2026
