The Year of German-American Friendship is a great opportunity to raise awareness of German-language literature in the English-speaking world. To this end, the branches of the Goethe-Institut in the USA are showcasing contemporary German-language literature throughout the year. Events featuring German-speaking authors are being staged across the USA as part of the Books First program. For more information on Books First, please click here.For this event, Benedict Wells reads from his fourth novel, The End of Loneliness. The book spent more than a year and a half on the Spiegel bestseller list and was awarded the 2016 European Union Prize for Literature, among other awards. “A difficult childhood is like an invisible enemy: you never know when it will come for you”.