Carola Frentzen

Carola Frentzen, born in 1970, studied Romance languages and literature and then went to Rome, where she spent 14 years working as a correspondent for the German Press Agency. After doing a lot of travel half way round the world, she has been involved in aid projects in Ethiopia since the end of 2006. After a sabbatical on the Horn of Africa, she moved to Vienna, where she is again working as a correspondent.

Abyssinia
My Year in Ethiopia

The German journalist Carola Frentzen decides to give up her dream job as a correspondent in Rome in order to spend a year living in one of the poorest countries in the world. She and her partner Alessio want to set up a charity organisation there. But then nothing happens as planned. Alessio has a depression; their relationship falls apart; Ethiopian bureaucracy keeps setting up all sorts of hurdle; and finally her ex-boyfriend ends up in prison in Addis Ababa. The dream of Africa seems to be turning into a nightmare, and Carola's big love turns into a chaos of emotions. But Carola won't give up. She stays in Ethiopia and fights. She gets increasingly involved in her work for the poor, meeting some amazing people in the process, and travels to meet wild tribes and find mythical places. Her host country may be inconsistent and contradictory , but her love for it and its inhabitants grows. Finally, she finds the answers she has been looking for in Africa and realises that, no matter what, she wants to return to the Horn of Africa …

• HC: Blanvalet 2011


• Pb: Blanvalet 2012


• Movie & TV: Rights free (AVA international)