A Simple Intervention

A ground-breaking surgical intervention promises to free women from psychological disorders. The procedure is painless, the risks are minimal, and patients are calmer and more compliant after healing. The doctor promises them a new and productive life, free from suffering - can it be so simple? Meret is a nurse on the surgical ward. The hospital is her home, and her uniform is her identity. She supports her patients through their interventions and is proud to be a part of the solution. But when she falls in love with another nurse, she crosses an invisible boundary and her certainty in the system begins to crumble. With echoes of Kazuo Ishiguro and Margaret Atwood, this is the story of a world of rigid hierarchies and a love with its own rules.

Yael Inokai was born in 1989 in Basel. She won the 2018 Swiss Literature Prize for her second novel, Mahlstrom. Her third novel, A Simple Intervention, was longlisted for the 2022 German Book Prize and is her first work to be translated into English. Yael Inokai lives in Berlin and is an editor for the magazine Politisch Schreiben.