Sensitive and inspiring: an homage to longing, friendship, and reconciliation with the past. Once celebrated as the voice of a new generation, the writer Lilli Jansen now lives a secluded life in her Hamburg villa—and can't find the words for her latest novel. Then a song from the Cape Verde Islands, a tale of longing and home, leads her to tropical São Vicente. Lilli's search for inspiration seems futile, but then an unexpected friendship allows her to see her life with new eyes. Through his curiosity and childlike optimism, the young Luís wins the heart of the otherwise reserved Lilli. And as he shows her his world, she finds the courage to tell her own story. A story of repressed childhood memories that takes her back to the final months of World War II on Heligoland, the red rock in the North Sea. Moving and beautifully told, Tom Diesbrock's 'The Invention of Desire', with its unwavering heroine, is reminiscent of the female characters of Isabel Allende and Elena Ferrante. New product