The UnfinishedThe Unfinished is a 2003 novel by the German writer Reinhard Jirgl.PlotThe novel is about the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans and follows a German family during three periods: during the expulsion directly after World War II, when the surviving women live in the Soviet occupation zone in Germany but retain hope of one day returning, and years later when the son of the youngest woman undergoes cancer treatment in Berlin and writes down his family's history. The characters are inspired by Jirgl's own family.ReceptionJirgl received the 2003 Rheingau Literatur Preis for his collected works and in particular The Unfinished.