In early 1920, Friderike von Winternitz, who has written two novels, is the wife of Stefan Zweig, a determined woman, as can be seen from their letters. She consistently shows a keen interest in his literary work and occasionally offers him criticism: "It saddens me to think that a person like you, who possesses such particularly fortunate gifts and should therefore always be thanking the gods, is so thoughtless as to deeply hurt and humiliate those closest to him..." On the other hand, Stefan Zweig sometimes criticizes Friderike's upbringing of their difficult daughters: "Let them swim! They have been given life vests so they can't sink and get into trouble—don't worry about anything else, then they will be forced to fend for themselves." The couple lives together until early 1934.