It feels like a modern fairy tale: It all begins with a queen who meets a dwarf and is terribly frightened. Barely eight weeks later, the young queen is dead – and the little person Christian and his sister Marie continue to live with their horrified exclamation: "Monster!" This sets the stage for the dimension of this story. Through the example of Marie, who grows up on Peacock Island between the Wars of Liberation and the Restoration, amidst greenhouses and menageries, garden art and philosophical conversations, and assists the royal family during their visits, Thomas Hettche narrates the shaping of nature, the dignity of man, the essence of time, and the sensitivity of the soul and body – and not least, love in its many forms.