When the moonlight sleeps sweetly on the hills

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When the moonlight sleeps sweetly on the hills (original title: At the Height of the Moon ) is a novel by Eric Malpass from 1967. The German translation by Margret Schmitz was first published in 1968 by Rowohlt Verlag .

The novel is after seven in the morning the world is still in order the second of the seven Gaylord novels by Eric Malpass. The English original title is At the Height of the Moon (which one could translate - very freely but fittingly to the content - as “At full moon”) and was also published in 1967.

content

The novel is about the Pentecost family, who take in the children of May Pentecost's brother who was killed in a plane crash. In the family's country house, which is inhabited by grandfather John, father Jocelyn, mother May, son Gaylord and daughter Amanda, the half-orphans Imogen (Jenny), David and Emma have a hard time. Until they get to their mother, who was hit hard in the crash was injured, can return, things happen that cause one or the other crisis in the household.

Title (quote)

The German title of the novel quotes a passage from William Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice : In the fifth act in the first scene ( “In such a night” ), Lorenzo and Jessica appear in front of Porzia's house. Lorenzo begins the intimate conversation with

The moon shines brightly. On a night like this,
When the soft air kissed the trees flatteringly ...

and says several verses later (after he had the musicians fetched from the house)

How sweetly the moonlight sleeps on the hill!
(orig .: How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!)
Here we sit and let the music
slip into our ears; gentle silence and night,
Agrees to the sounds of sweet harmony.

filming

The novel was filmed for the cinema in 1969 by Wolfgang Liebeneiner . The year before, the first adaptation of the novel, The Morning at Seven is the World Is Alright , directed by Kurt Hoffmann .

Book editions