Fontane's wonderful novel about women in the extensively annotated Hanser edition. The beautiful young Cécile, former lover of a prince and trapped in a loveless marriage, reciprocates the feelings of an admirer - but her past catches up with her. Masterfully, Fontane weaves his critique of the hypocritical social norms of the late 19th century into his famous novel. The first book in Fontane's "Marriage Trilogy" skillfully sketches the fragility of the norms shaped by nobility and the military in Berlin society at the end of the 19th century through masterful dialogues and subtly developed plot.