''Group Portrait with Lady'' () is a 1971

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winning author

Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; ; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll received the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). Bio ...

. The novel is concerned with a woman named Leni Pfieffer (née Gruyten) who faces eviction from her apartment building in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. It structured as a report compiled from interviews conducted by an unnamed author with Leni’s friends, family, employers, coworkers, and others, forming a detailed social portrait of life in Cologne from the 1910s to 1971. Like many of Böll's novels, there is a particular focus on representing the Nazi era from the perspective of ordinary people. The Nobel Prize committee referred to ''Group Portrait with Lady'' as Böll’s "most grandly conceived work." The novel was adapted into a film in 1977.

References

External links

"Portrait of a woman, a city and modern Germany— Heinrich Böll's best novel"
review by Richard Locke in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', May 6, 1973. 1971 German novels German novels adapted into films Kiepenheuer & Witsch books Novels by Heinrich Böll Novels set in Germany Novels set in the 1930s Novels set in the 1940s Works set in apartment buildings Novels set in Cologne {{1970s-novel-stub