Elisabeth de Waal's Posthumous Novel 'El regreso de los exiliados' Published by Libros del Asteroide

Libros del Asteroide has published 'El regreso de los exiliados', a novel by Elisabeth de Waal written in the 1950s but discovered in 2013, decades after her death. De Waal, grandmother of Edmund de Waal, was born and died in Vienna but lived in France, Switzerland, and England during Europe's worst years. The novel follows two protagonists in post-war Vienna: Kuno Adler, an older scientist who returns from the US, and Marie-Theres, a young woman sent by her exiled parents. It explores themes of return, displacement, and the lingering moral and economic ruin of war. The novel was found among five unpublished works by De Waal, who wrote in German and English. The story contrasts Adler's disillusionment with a ruined city and Marie-Theres's fascination with her mother's family. Director Ferenc Török's 2017 film '1945' similarly addressed the uneasy return of Jewish survivors to their hometown.