Hey, Good Morning, How Are You?
The profound international bestseller and winner of the German Book Prize
Published on 30. April 2026
224 pages
978-1-4059-8037-1 (ISBN)
Description
THE SPIEGEL BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF THE GERMAN BOOK PRIZE 2024: a woman finds solace in her interactions with internet scammers in this electric and moving novel about communication and isolation, needs and desires, and how far we are prepared to go for love
'A triumph of sharp wit and profound humanity ... A divine masterpiece' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'
Juno Isabella Flock is a dancer and performance artist who spends her days caring for her ailing husband, and her nights chatting to love scammers online. She's aware of the risks these men pose - she's watched a documentary about them - but she's also discovered a heady freedom in these online conversations, and the things they allow her to say.
When Juno meets Owen_Wilson223 - or, to use his real name, Benu - she senses an immediate connection between them, even though they're separated by thousands of miles. Gradually, they reveal more and more about themselves to each other: about their real selves, and about who they really want to be. And just as Juno sees through Benu's lies, he sees through hers too.
Hey, Good Morning, How Are You? is a whirlwind of a novel. It's about yearning to stay young while age marches on; it's about how to stay truthful while the internet changes everything; it's about love and desire in all their many, conflicting forms. And most of all, it's a novel about the way we are all connected, by the same constellations and the same night sky, however different our circumstances.
'My book of the year. So sad and yet so funny, so elegant and tender [...] about illness and old age and loneliness and the internet and the beauty of fiction. There hasn't been a more worthy winner of the German Book Prize in a long time' Daniel Kehlmann, author of Measuring the World
'It's a long time since I read such an unusual, dazzling, idiosyncratic novel, one that tells so much about us and our reality. And it's also a lot of fun' rbb
TRANSLATED BY LINDA L. GAUS
'A triumph of sharp wit and profound humanity ... A divine masterpiece' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'
Juno Isabella Flock is a dancer and performance artist who spends her days caring for her ailing husband, and her nights chatting to love scammers online. She's aware of the risks these men pose - she's watched a documentary about them - but she's also discovered a heady freedom in these online conversations, and the things they allow her to say.
When Juno meets Owen_Wilson223 - or, to use his real name, Benu - she senses an immediate connection between them, even though they're separated by thousands of miles. Gradually, they reveal more and more about themselves to each other: about their real selves, and about who they really want to be. And just as Juno sees through Benu's lies, he sees through hers too.
Hey, Good Morning, How Are You? is a whirlwind of a novel. It's about yearning to stay young while age marches on; it's about how to stay truthful while the internet changes everything; it's about love and desire in all their many, conflicting forms. And most of all, it's a novel about the way we are all connected, by the same constellations and the same night sky, however different our circumstances.
'My book of the year. So sad and yet so funny, so elegant and tender [...] about illness and old age and loneliness and the internet and the beauty of fiction. There hasn't been a more worthy winner of the German Book Prize in a long time' Daniel Kehlmann, author of Measuring the World
'It's a long time since I read such an unusual, dazzling, idiosyncratic novel, one that tells so much about us and our reality. And it's also a lot of fun' rbb
TRANSLATED BY LINDA L. GAUS
Reviews / Votes
A book like a tightrope walk without a net: a sheer drop to the left, a sheer drop to the right, you want to look away but you can't and you don't need to, because as long as Martina Hefter is telling this story, as long as her thoughts are so luminous and life and desire are so in- tense, nothing can happen * Anne Weber, winner of the German Book Prize 2020 * A triumph of sharp wit and profound humanity [...] A divine master- piece * FAZ - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung * Navigating between melancholy and euphoria, and reflecting on trust and deception, the novel combines gruelling everyday life with mythological figures and cosmic dimensions in a fascinating way. Martina Hefter writes about all this in her intelligently choreographed novel, which exerts an attraction of its very own * German Book Prize Jury 2024 * A book that weaves atmospheric nuances into haunting images of tragedy and bliss, never slipping into sentimentality * NZZ * Deserves to be a bestseller * Die Zeit * Every line is ready to tear down the austere fac?ade of society * Dincer Guecyeter, winner of the 2023 Leipzig Book Fair Prize * My book of the year. So sad and yet so funny, so elegant and tender [...] about illness and old age and loneliness and the internet and the beauty of fiction. There hasn't been a more worthy winner of the German Book Prize in a long time. * Daniel Kehlmann, author of Measuring the World * A humorous yet profound prism of privileges, caring for seriously ill dependents, and the precariousness facing freelance artists * Spiegel Kultur * The novel's great strength is its lightness. Hefter evokes the disparate everyday interplay of physical decline and romantic longing so entertainingly and elegantly that every detail begins to sparkle through her narrative art * Simone Unger, mdr * An exceptional novel that is both profound and nimble * Nuernberger Zeitung *More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Edition type
New edition
File size
1,10 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4059-8037-1 (9781405980371)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Martina Hefter
Hey, Good Morning, How Are You?
Book
approx. 02/2027
Penguin Books Ltd
€13.00
Not yet published
Persons
Martina Hefter (Author)
Martina Hefter is an author and performer based in Leipzig. Her texts move between poetry,
scenic forms of writing, and novelistic writing. She stages many of her texts in collaboration with other artists. In Germany, she has published three novels, and five volumes of poetry. Her novel Hey, Good Morning, How Are You? won the German Book Prize in 2024, and is her first work to be translated into English.
Linda Gaus (Translator)
Linda L. Gaus (she/her) holds a Ph.D. in German Literature from the University of California-Berkeley. She has been a professional translator and teacher of German for the past 30 years. She lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband and 2 cats.
Martina Hefter is an author and performer based in Leipzig. Her texts move between poetry,
scenic forms of writing, and novelistic writing. She stages many of her texts in collaboration with other artists. In Germany, she has published three novels, and five volumes of poetry. Her novel Hey, Good Morning, How Are You? won the German Book Prize in 2024, and is her first work to be translated into English.
Linda Gaus (Translator)
Linda L. Gaus (she/her) holds a Ph.D. in German Literature from the University of California-Berkeley. She has been a professional translator and teacher of German for the past 30 years. She lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband and 2 cats.
