William – im Stranger than Fiction Podcast

Über das Buch „NEULAND“ von Rik Marten Grove

Sure. I read it. I had to, even if I didn’t want to. Even if it made me remember things I hadn’t figured out yet. I had no idea Rik was writing it. Not during. Not after. He just sent me the manuscript. Said nothing. Just “Hope you’re well. Thought you might want this.” Bastard.

What do I think? I think it’s brave. Raw. Unforgiving. But weirdly tender. He didn’t just tell what happened. He understood something I hadn’t dared to say—that it wasn’t about sex. Not really. Not only. Yes, I slept with Hannah. Yes, I watched Marcus fuck Cleo—my Cleo—like she was already his. And yes, it lives in me. Still.

That night, something shifted. In her. In me. We never talked about it the way we should’ve. We argued instead. Or touched each other harder. Or less. But we never got back to what it was before. Reading it was worse. Or better. I don’t know. Rik saw things I didn’t. He saw how much I wanted her. Hannah. Not just her body. Her distance. Her permission to forget who I was. And he saw what it did to Cleo. And to me. Quietly. Without judgement.

Do I regret it? No. I regret not staying longer. Not asking what it meant. Not saying what I felt.

And if I really existed—I’d find her. I’d find all of them. And I’d beg Rik to write the rest.