
A lavish spring ceremony unfolds on a bright Breitestrass, where the newest member of a once‑prosperous merchant family is welcomed with solemn prayers and glittering decorations. The gathering brings together a web of relatives, local dignitaries, and the aging patriarch, whose presence underscores both the prestige and the fragile continuity of the lineage. As the infant is cradled in a delicate blue swaddling cloth, the scene captures the hopeful anticipation that a fresh heir might revive the family’s waning fortunes. Yet beneath the festivity, subtle tensions hint at the pressures of expectation and the weight of legacy.
Through vivid detail and keen observation, the novel paints a portrait of a world caught between tradition and change, where personal desires clash with social obligations. Listeners will be drawn into the intricate relationships that bind the characters—marriages, rivalries, and the quiet ambitions that drive them. The opening promises an intimate exploration of how a single birth can become a symbol of both renewal and the inevitable decline that shadows every great house.
Language
fi
Duration
~11 hours (671K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Finland: WSOY, 1925.
Credits
Sirkku-Liisa Häyhä-Karmakainen and Tapio Riikonen
Release date
2022-12-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1875–1955
Best known for richly layered novels like Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, and The Magic Mountain, this German writer brought psychological depth and moral tension to stories about family, art, illness, and society. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929 and remains one of the major voices of 20th-century European fiction.
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