All of You Every Single One

A Novel

By: Beatrice Hitchman

Narrated by: Sophie Ward, Lara King

From an acclaimed and powerful talent in historical fiction, a literary historical novel set in a bohemian enclave of Vienna about love, freedom, and what constitutes a family

Set in Vienna from 1910 to 1946, All of You Every Single One is an atmospheric, original, and deeply moving novel about family, freedom, and how true love might survive impossible odds. Julia Lindqvist, a woman unhappily married to a famous Swedish playwright, leaves her husband to begin a passionate affair with a female tailor named Eve. The pair run away together and settle in the more liberal haven of Vienna, where they fall in love, navigate the challenges of their newfound independence, and find community in the city’s Jewish quarter. But Julia’s yearning for a child throws their fragile happiness into chaos and threatens to destroy her life and the lives of those closest to her. Ada Bauer’s wealthy industrialist family have sent her to Dr. Freud in the hope that he can cure her mutism—and do so without a scandal. But help will soon come for Ada from an unexpected place, changing many lives irrevocably.

Through the lives of her queer characters, and against the changing backdrop of one of the greatest cities of the age, Hitchman asks what it’s like to live through oppression, how personal decisions become political, and how far one will go to protect the ones they love. Moving across Europe and through decades, Hitchman’s sophomore novel is an intensely poignant portrait of life and love on the fringes of history.

©2022 Beatrice Hitchman (P)2022 Spotify Audiobooks

For a long time, I wasn't sure where it was going

There's a very early reference to Hitler's change of heart regarding his art school plans almost as a throwaway. This of course created a tension knowing what would follow. However. the story meandered through much character development and I found myself becoming impatient. Eventually the plot became more engrossing and I found myself admiring the long build up.