Miriam Carbe in Jena: Reading from Undesired Daughters
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Four Women, a Century: Miriam Carbe reads from Undesired Daughters
When family history transforms into a literary journey through time, evenings emerge where private memory and collective consciousness intertwine. On November 14, 2026, Miriam Carbe will be a guest at the Ernst-Abbe-Library Jena with her debut novel Undesired Daughters. The reading is dedicated to a grand family saga about four generations of women, German history, and the longing for a self-determined life.
A Family Novel as a Chronicle of the 20th Century
Margarethe, Marianne, Monika, and Miriam stand at the center of this intergenerational narrative. Their life paths lead from the educated bourgeoisie of Dresden through the world wars and the post-war period to the Federal Republic of the 1960s and 1970s. Carbe connects historical upheavals with intimate experiences: love, loss, societal constraints, social dependency, and the persistent desire for personal freedom shape the narratives.
Literature from Diaries and Memory
The special literary quality of the novel lies in its connection of autobiographical material and fictional design. Miriam Carbe inherited several boxes of diaries and memory sketches from her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother; the oldest entries date back to 1908. From these traces, she forms a multi-voiced family narrative in which private documents become a compelling literary art.
Origin, Racism, and Inherited Patterns
The novel tells particularly intensely about Monika, a highly intelligent and unstable young woman who, in the 1960s, wants to give birth to an illegitimate black child against societal resistance. Carbe, who is this child herself, examines how racist notions, silence, and familial conditioning continue to influence through generations. The novel thus opens an important cultural discourse on origin, responsibility, and memory.
An Author Between Editing and Literature
Miriam Carbe was born in 1967, has German and Nigerian roots, and lives in Frankfurt am Main. She works as an editor for Arte and presents her first novel Undesired Daughters. The book was nominated for the Longlist of the German Book Prize in 2026. Literary critics commend the atmospherically dense perspective on German post-war history and the special power with which Carbe lends literary weight to quiet voices.
A Literary Experience at the Ernst-Abbe-Library
The reading atmosphere promises a focused author encounter: Carbe's voice guides through a century in which family conflicts, historical catastrophes, and personal emancipation are inextricably linked. The audience experiences a reading about the aftermath of war, National Socialism, and societal exclusion – and about the possibility of gaining new perspectives on one's own family history through storytelling.
Conclusion
Miriam Carbe's reading in Jena connects literary linguistic art with historical insight and personal closeness. Those who appreciate family novels, autofictional literature, and engaged contemporary literature experience an evening about memory, origin, and female self-determination. The Ernst-Abbe-Library becomes a resonance space for a story that extends far beyond the pages of the book.
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