Tall and cozy on the sofa in the background is Sheila Heti's black Labrador Feldman. He's dozing and still manages to keep an eye on the front yard in the canine multitasking way. On the bookshelf on the wall is a painted portrait of a black dog in the middle. The animal poses with dignity.

The star speaks to the Canadian bestselling author via video call at her home in Toronto. In mid-March, Heti's new novel Reine Farb was published in German. The 46-year-old would not be the successful, intellectual and precise chronicler and writer that she is if her new book were not again about existential themes. This time about grief, about healing, about art and nature.

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