In clear, concise sentences, her first-person narrator describes how much addiction determines her family's life – and how naturally alcohol is part of everyday life: after work, at the shooting festival, at family celebrations. The father drinks, plays, works – and affectionately calls his daughter "Motte."

But the child grows up with constant worry: Will the father come home safely? In what condition will he be? Between crashes and outbursts, there are still moments of closeness: "Under the table, my father and I hook our little fingers. We pretend that all of this never happened." Schätte depicts a childhood full of contradictions – of fear, responsibility, and solidarity, of tenderness and pain. And she shows how addiction can continue to be written into families: the narrator will also later struggle with alcohol problems.

"The Black on My Father's Hands" is a touching book that captivates readers from the very first page – intense, relatable, and authentic. Not least because the author from Lüdenscheid, as a trained psychiatric nurse, continues to accompany people struggling with addiction to this day.

"The Black on My Father's Hands" is published by Fischer. 192 pages. ISBN: 978-3-10-397657-1