A surreal chamber play in the far north, in which a promising cultural assignment becomes a bloody nightmare for a young woman.
Journalist Valerie Vogler is invited to Spitsbergen by the extremely hyped four-member artist group AURORA. She is supposed to write an article about their next big work, but in order to do so she has to follow some »conditions« set by the collective.
However, it does not remain with an external view of the group’s work; discrepancies and inconsistencies within AURORA become visible. The seemingly flawless and ingenious image starts to crack. Valerie Vogler becomes more and more involved in the opaque happenings and goings-on of the collective. What is really going on in the studio? And what are the artists Lasse, Gunnar, Per and Henrik really planning with the journalist? What at first looks like the opportunity for the big journalistic break turns out to be a hellish trip.
»Constantin Schwab‘s debut can be read like a thriller. But The Journal of Valerie Vogler is much more; an exploration of the motivations of art, the account of a woman who plunges deeper and deeper into the artificial counterworld of a quartet of men, piercing the fine membrane between reality and delusion.« (Gallus Frei-Tomic, Literaturblatt)
»A disturbing novel in the best sense of the word.« (Teresa Preis, Buchkultur)
»A straightforward and straightforwardly composed journey into a very special world. Absolutely recommended reading.« (Anke Schmeier)