The most famous Austrian writer of the 19th century was long perceived merely as the "poetess of kindness." However, she was much more: a poetic realist, playwright, aphorist, advocate for emancipation, fighter against anti-Semitism, officer's wife, watchmaker, and "equestrian madwoman." In the first biography since 1920, Daniela Strigl traces Ebner-Eschenbach's journey from her birth in southern Moravia's Zdislawitz to her late fame. Torn between noble origins and social convictions, ethos and irony, ambition and modesty, social considerations and a passion for writing, Ebner-Eschenbach steadfastly pursued her goal despite her family's resistance and the derision of theater critics.