
Set on the windswept shores of the Baltic, the story opens in the thriving fishing village of Wilwischken, where the Balczus family runs the most prosperous enterprise at the mouth of the Parwe River. Ansas Balczus, a shrewd and charismatic fisherman, has built a comfortable life with his beautiful wife Indre, the daughter of a wealthy landowner, and their three lively children. Their days are filled with the scent of onions, fresh butter, and the hum of bustling trade that makes the village famous far beyond its borders.
But the arrival of a new maid, a sharp‑tongued woman named Busze, begins to upend the household’s fragile harmony. Her relentless chatter and meddling stir resentment among neighbors and awaken long‑suppressed tensions between husband and wife. As whispers spread through the community, listeners are drawn into a portrait of pride, power, and the quiet desperation that can lurk behind even the most prosperous facades.
Language
de
Duration
~9 hours (542K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2020-12-03
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1857–1928
A major voice in German naturalism, this novelist and dramatist turned sharp social observation into widely read fiction and stage hits. His breakthrough play Die Ehre and the drama later known in English as Magda helped make him one of the best-known German writers of his era.
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