Press
A “richly textured, kaleidoscopic Künstlerroman” - Oprah Magazine
“Deeply woven...The family drama is interlaced with beautiful, meticulously detailed scenes describing Germany, from the underground music scene to the architecture and urban planning that shapes daily life. Streetscapes, stone facades, unofficial trodden pathways across grassy parks, outdoor markets selling dense rye bread—the scene is built on each page with precise detail. Diehl also writes knowledgeably about the arts, from sculpture and performance art to painting and avant-garde music. The book pulses with an almost obsessive level of musical detail, cataloguing genres like psychedelic drone and experimental dub, cult bands like Kraftwerk and the Grateful Dead, and the liberated cultural scene that thrived in the 1970s...Lifelines weaves a rich tapestry out of interconnected personal histories and shows that we are all greater than the sum of our parts." —The Oregonian
"A fascinating interrogation of complicated histories” - Nylon
"Gorgeous...Lifelines has everything you'd want in a book: family secrets, love triangles, and beautiful writing.” - Cosmopolitan
“This complex, intimate story memorably portrays what it looks like to reckon with one’s choices and to feel both uncertainty and peace.” - Publishers Weekly
"A strong debut novel from a writer with a talent for character building." - Booklist
Interviews
Playlist for Largehearted Boy “Book Notes” series
Interview with Debutiful
Interview with Indoor Voices podcast
Interview with Public Libraries Online
Interview with Write the Book podcast
Interview with Syracuse Post-Standard