Das Feuer hinter dem Berge: Roman

In a cramped household on the edge of a German mountain town, the Dorreyter sisters grow up under the watchful eye of a fiercely independent mother who has just inherited a modest fortune. Christiane, bright and eager, quickly earns the admiration of teachers, while Hardi, more reserved, is constantly accused of “half‑heartedness” by the unforgiving headmistress, Fräulein Schmöckler. Their days are marked by the rigid regime of a provincial seminary, where weakness is brushed aside and conformity is prized above all.

When their mother stumbles upon a bundle of old letters and diary pages from a distant ancestor, the sisters are exposed to a hidden lineage of love and betrayal that starkly contrasts with their own austere upbringing. The discoveries spark quiet curiosity and an uneasy longing, hinting at the personal reckonings that will soon reshape their sense of family and identity.