Collected Novels and Novellas - Volume XII

"Stine" tells the quiet, deeply moving story of seamstress Stine Rehbein, who becomes the lover of the aristocratic Count Waldemar von Haldern. Both are genuinely attracted to each other, but the social barriers between Berlin's bourgeoisie and the Prussian nobility cannot be overcome. Fontane portrays Stine as a woman of rare inner strength and reserve, whose tragedy lies not in loud drama, but in the quiet hopelessness of her situation. The novella develops a gripping tension from the unspoken knowledge that this love "must not be."
"Prisoner of War," however, takes us to a different setting: In concise, clear language, Fontane describes the fate of a Prussian officer who is taken prisoner by the French during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The novella eschews the din of battle and heroism, focusing instead on the human element: the encounters between vanquished and victors, misunderstandings, quiet friendships, and unexpected acts of compassion. The story is imbued with Fontane's characteristic understated humor, but also with reflections on the senselessness of war and the arbitrariness of fate.
"Collected Novels and Novellas - Volume XII" is an unaltered, high-quality reprint of the original edition from 1891.