At the End of the Tunnel

It takes just a matter of seconds... there is a dull thud... and afterwards nothing will ever be quite the same in the life of Silke Frank.

She was just doing her job, at the controls of a subway train, when a woman threw herself on the tracks in front of her, and there was absolutely nothing Silke Frank could do about it. But Silke is now plagued by doubts as to whether she could in fact have stopped in time, and her hitherto untroubled life is in tatters. She refuses to forget the whole thing, to push it out of her mind. Her marriage, which has always been relatively happy, is now also threatened as her husband Albert tries in vain to help her forget the incident.

Silke tries to discover more about the dead woman, Yvonne Auffermann, by setting off in search of her husband, Andreas, and their 9-year-old son Tobias. Andreas, a Professor of Philosophy, is initially unsure about this strange woman and her questions about his personal life, but he soon senses that she has a deep and genuine interest in his life. Now Silke discovers that Yvonne suffered from bouts of manic depression - she also sees that Tobias is refusing to accept that fact that his mother committed suicide. Gradually all three of them realise that they have something to give each other - the certainty that Yvonne's voluntary death was tragic but not to no avail. It has brought together three people who can only rediscover the path back to life by acting together.

And still, at the end of the tunnel, there is Silke's marriage to Albert...and the chance of a new beginning.