An unpublished novel by Fontane. From the first surviving greeting of Fontane to Miss Emilie Kummer in Oranienburger Strasse in Berlin to the famous last letter to his wife, written on the day of his death, September 20, 1898, this correspondence spans half a century. Long phases of separation, caused by Fontane's professional and literary obligations, as well as the family's difficult financial situation, are bridged by the intense exchange of letters. The fundamental condition from the very beginning is its existential necessity for both partners: just as conversation is essential in times of closeness, the uninterrupted, sometimes overflowing exchange of letters is integral to the nature of this artistic marriage. For without the ongoing inner-family communication, the narrator Fontane would not have existed either. Emilie Fontane, until now, has been almost exclusively.