''Decompression'' () is a novel by the German writer

Juli Zeh Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974) is a German writer and judge. She is known for novels such as '' The Method'' (2009), '' Unterleuten'' (2016) and '' About People'' (2021). Early life and education Juli Zeh is the da ...

, published in 2012 by Schöffling & Co.

Plot

Sven Fielder is a German

diving instructor A diving instructor is a person who trains, and usually also assesses competence, of underwater divers. This includes freedivers, recreational divers including the subcategory technical divers, and professional divers which includes military, ...

who runs a tourist business in

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

with his lover Antje Berger. Their everyday lives turn complicated when Sven is hired by the actress Jola von der Pahlen, who needs to improve her diving skills to get the leading role in an upcoming film about

Lotte Hass Lotte Hass (6 November 1928 – 14 January 2015) was a pioneering Austrian diver, underwater photographer and model. She was nicknamed ''The First Lady of Diving''. She was the first woman to dive in the Red Sea, the first woman to dive with auto ...

, and her abusive husband Theo Hast, a writer whose only novel was published ten years earlier. The story is mainly told from Sven's perspective, along with entries from Jola's diary.

Reception

Lucy Popescu of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' wrote that ''Decompression'' builds suspension in ways that surprise the reader by changing direction. She complimented Zeh's ability to describe "the carelessness and perversities of the rich and famous". James Smart of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that the unsympathetic main characters make the truth of what is going on feel irrelevant, but that the passages set underwater are well written and the book ends with "a scene of splendid drama". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' wrote that the story developments are unpredictable and well put together, the book suspenseful and the characters nuanced, comparing Jola's and Theo's relationship to that of Martha and George in ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they rece ...

'' ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called ''Decompression'' "a competent character study" about Sven's vulnerability and inability to handle the unexpected situation.

References

{{Authority control 2012 German novels Novels by Juli Zeh Lanzarote in fiction Underwater diving books Novels about actors