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Frau Sartoris
An explosive first novel–Madame Bovary set in modern Germany–about a wife and mother whose failed love affairs have driven her to the edge of sanity, and to a startling attempt at vindication.
After being jilted by a rich boyfriend, Margaret Sartoris, eighteen and heartbroken, throws herself into a comfortable but stifling marriage to Ernst, a war veteran with a penchant for routine and order, who still lives with his mother in a small German village.
It’s not a bad life, considering Margaret’s psychological scars, but neither Ernst’s adoration nor the birth of a daughter can reawaken her frozen emotions. It’s not until she slides into an affair with a married man with whom she plans to run away that her passions are stirred, but these plans are a fantasy that cannot possibly come true. The repercussions nevertheless will explode with unimaginable force in these astonished lives.
A remarkable psychological portrait, an oustanding debut novel.
After being jilted by a rich boyfriend, Margaret Sartoris, eighteen and heartbroken, throws herself into a comfortable but stifling marriage to Ernst, a war veteran with a penchant for routine and order, who still lives with his mother in a small German village.
It’s not a bad life, considering Margaret’s psychological scars, but neither Ernst’s adoration nor the birth of a daughter can reawaken her frozen emotions. It’s not until she slides into an affair with a married man with whom she plans to run away that her passions are stirred, but these plans are a fantasy that cannot possibly come true. The repercussions nevertheless will explode with unimaginable force in these astonished lives.
A remarkable psychological portrait, an oustanding debut novel.
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First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 9, 2017
Elke Schmitter's Mrs Sartoris has been described as 'an explosive first novel - Madame Bovary in modern Germany - about a wife and mother whose failed love affairs have driven her to the edge of sanity and to a startling attempt at vindication.' It has been translated from its original German by Carol Brown Janeway, and was first published in English in 2002.
Mrs Sartoris opens in rather an intriguing manner: 'The street was empty. It was drizzling, as it often did in this region, and twilight was giving way to darkness - so you can't say that the visibility was good. Perhaps that's why I was so late in spotting him, but it was also probably because I was deep in thought. I'm often deep in thought. Not that anything comes of it.'
Our protagonist is Margarethe Sartoris, transcribed in the English version as Margaret. After she is jilted by a rich boyfriend, with whom she is much in love, at the age of eighteen, she is sent to a sanitorium. Reflecting on her experiences, she says: 'A nervous breakdown didn't belong in our circle. Such a thing required a cause, and the cause arbitrarily existed.' When she is released, she 'throws herself into a comfortable and stifling marriage to Ernst, a war veteran with a penchant for routine and order who still lives with his mother in a small German village.'
Margaret, who has a wealth of psychological scars attained in her past, quickly becomes dissatisfied in her choice, and 'neither Ernst's adoration not the birth of a daughter can reawaken her frozen emotions.' Of her decision to marry Ernst, she writes: 'From that moment on, it was a form of ice-cold delirium. When I awoke next morning, I allowed myself an instant's reflection - but my mind was made up. I had enormous willpower, and I had no desire to stop myself. I was grateful for the rage that had swallowed everything up: the exhaustion of the last six months, the sense of indifference and alienation and the feeling of not being at home in the world. I thought of all that and was terrified.'
When she first studies her daughter, Daniela, whilst in the hospital's maternity ward, Margaret muses: 'She had inherited nothing from either of us... Ernst's hair was mouse brown, and my own mop of curls was dark blond... and this daughter of mine, my first and last, had red-gold down on her head and was so delicate she could disappear at any moment, whereas the rest of us were tall and quite well built.' She is both loving towards, and scared of, her daughter, and becomes indifferent towards Ernst, a catalyst which pushes her in the direction of affairs with a series of troubled males.
Mrs Sartoris is structured in a series of rather short sections, which contain both threads of Margaret's present story, and memories and reflections of scenarios in her past. Schmitter's portrayal of Margaret is a searching one, and there is a strength in both her writing and her creation of a believable narrative voice. Mrs Sartoris does become taut and tense as it progresses, and is engaging from the first. Despite being rather a slight book, it is packed with a lot of depth and feeling, as well as much darkness.
Mrs Sartoris opens in rather an intriguing manner: 'The street was empty. It was drizzling, as it often did in this region, and twilight was giving way to darkness - so you can't say that the visibility was good. Perhaps that's why I was so late in spotting him, but it was also probably because I was deep in thought. I'm often deep in thought. Not that anything comes of it.'
Our protagonist is Margarethe Sartoris, transcribed in the English version as Margaret. After she is jilted by a rich boyfriend, with whom she is much in love, at the age of eighteen, she is sent to a sanitorium. Reflecting on her experiences, she says: 'A nervous breakdown didn't belong in our circle. Such a thing required a cause, and the cause arbitrarily existed.' When she is released, she 'throws herself into a comfortable and stifling marriage to Ernst, a war veteran with a penchant for routine and order who still lives with his mother in a small German village.'
Margaret, who has a wealth of psychological scars attained in her past, quickly becomes dissatisfied in her choice, and 'neither Ernst's adoration not the birth of a daughter can reawaken her frozen emotions.' Of her decision to marry Ernst, she writes: 'From that moment on, it was a form of ice-cold delirium. When I awoke next morning, I allowed myself an instant's reflection - but my mind was made up. I had enormous willpower, and I had no desire to stop myself. I was grateful for the rage that had swallowed everything up: the exhaustion of the last six months, the sense of indifference and alienation and the feeling of not being at home in the world. I thought of all that and was terrified.'
When she first studies her daughter, Daniela, whilst in the hospital's maternity ward, Margaret muses: 'She had inherited nothing from either of us... Ernst's hair was mouse brown, and my own mop of curls was dark blond... and this daughter of mine, my first and last, had red-gold down on her head and was so delicate she could disappear at any moment, whereas the rest of us were tall and quite well built.' She is both loving towards, and scared of, her daughter, and becomes indifferent towards Ernst, a catalyst which pushes her in the direction of affairs with a series of troubled males.
Mrs Sartoris is structured in a series of rather short sections, which contain both threads of Margaret's present story, and memories and reflections of scenarios in her past. Schmitter's portrayal of Margaret is a searching one, and there is a strength in both her writing and her creation of a believable narrative voice. Mrs Sartoris does become taut and tense as it progresses, and is engaging from the first. Despite being rather a slight book, it is packed with a lot of depth and feeling, as well as much darkness.
August 12, 2023
Xanım Şmitter göstərdi ki, hər dövrün öz madam bovariləri olacaq. Onlar hər növbəti nəsildə daha ağıllı tərpənəcəklər, amma sevilmək istəkləri heç azalmayacaq. ♥️
May 15, 2009
"It didn't require much courage, but more than I had."
Nearly finished and very anxious to see how she wraps up this fucking fantastic book. There's a major plot tangent that she's left hanging, and I have to see how she handles it before I can pass final judgment.
Overall this is a super-concentrated, perfectly written novel. She's given herself 143 pages and because of that she does not dicker around, which is not to suggest that it's fast-paced; rather, it's perfectly paced, as befits the story of a woman struggling with trying to change her life as she buys into the idea that a new romance and its uncertainties are preferable to a safe but dull marriage. She idealizes the first man - the one who got away - and thinks her new fling is the chance to recapture that and to escape the consolation marriage. (How many women and men do I know right now who are going through this same scenario....) It's an old story infused with such feeling and mastery of description of her inner and outer world. An incredibly great read.
Even though it is short, I'm reading it slowly; this is the kind of book you savor and swoon to.
More to come.
FINAL:
OK, well the book becomes fairly sensational as the "thriller" elements of the hit-and-run are elaborated and "resolved," and as the revelations about Mrs. Sartoris' daughter come out. I was a little, and only just a little, put off by all this, since it sort of competes with the beautiful mood of the rest of the book. But I think Schmitter has this here for a reason, to provide mother-daughter contrast and comparison, and to allow Sartoris to gain a sense of control over the future, if only that of her daughter. There are a lot of things to think about here. We sympathize with Sartoris, yet she becomes increasingly amoral. And yet, it is hard for a sympathetic reader to judge her. There were some things about the time chronology that struck me wrong, but I may have to go back and re-read to figure that out. There's no happy ending here folks, but there is a sort of catharsis. A lot of this book, in mood, reminded me of Raymond Radiguet's "Devil in the Flesh," a doomed romance classic from the '40s that I read and loved earlier this year.
This book, I think, has a shot at being considered a classic in its own right. It might even be a masterpiece. Time will tell.
-----
(earlier thoughts):
Intriguing item scarfed from $2 shelf at Half Price. A recent German novel that looks promising on first skim, and the reviews bode well, so let's find out...
I like the way this is written, right off the bat... very excited...
Initial pages:
God, is this refreshing compared to the "Since You Ask" book I'm also reading now. Like the heroine in that book, the one in this tome also is a woman in therapy, but Schmitter doesn't hem and haw around like Wareham. Already in the first 7 pages there's more of a rounded character and generosity in what she tells the reader about herself and what's she's thinking than in Wareham's first 67 pages. A solid mood is established and sustained. AND I CARE! Will go out on a limb here and issue a temporary four-star rating. ...reading on....
So yes, another "woman stuck in the safe but barren marriage" school of lit. But she writes with great feeling. We've read this story before; but it's HOW it's told that matters. And she can tell it.
NEARLY HALFWAY:
Bored wife. A love affair. Mooning over a past love. Deception. A dark secret involving a hit and run. Nothing new per se in the subject matter. It's an old story, and yet it's told afresh, with great confidence by a writer in command of her craft and with a sensitivity of touch and deep feeling. I might be overrating it a little, but so far I can't really fault it any way.
Five stars so far.
continuing....
Nearly finished and very anxious to see how she wraps up this fucking fantastic book. There's a major plot tangent that she's left hanging, and I have to see how she handles it before I can pass final judgment.
Overall this is a super-concentrated, perfectly written novel. She's given herself 143 pages and because of that she does not dicker around, which is not to suggest that it's fast-paced; rather, it's perfectly paced, as befits the story of a woman struggling with trying to change her life as she buys into the idea that a new romance and its uncertainties are preferable to a safe but dull marriage. She idealizes the first man - the one who got away - and thinks her new fling is the chance to recapture that and to escape the consolation marriage. (How many women and men do I know right now who are going through this same scenario....) It's an old story infused with such feeling and mastery of description of her inner and outer world. An incredibly great read.
Even though it is short, I'm reading it slowly; this is the kind of book you savor and swoon to.
More to come.
FINAL:
OK, well the book becomes fairly sensational as the "thriller" elements of the hit-and-run are elaborated and "resolved," and as the revelations about Mrs. Sartoris' daughter come out. I was a little, and only just a little, put off by all this, since it sort of competes with the beautiful mood of the rest of the book. But I think Schmitter has this here for a reason, to provide mother-daughter contrast and comparison, and to allow Sartoris to gain a sense of control over the future, if only that of her daughter. There are a lot of things to think about here. We sympathize with Sartoris, yet she becomes increasingly amoral. And yet, it is hard for a sympathetic reader to judge her. There were some things about the time chronology that struck me wrong, but I may have to go back and re-read to figure that out. There's no happy ending here folks, but there is a sort of catharsis. A lot of this book, in mood, reminded me of Raymond Radiguet's "Devil in the Flesh," a doomed romance classic from the '40s that I read and loved earlier this year.
This book, I think, has a shot at being considered a classic in its own right. It might even be a masterpiece. Time will tell.
-----
(earlier thoughts):
Intriguing item scarfed from $2 shelf at Half Price. A recent German novel that looks promising on first skim, and the reviews bode well, so let's find out...
I like the way this is written, right off the bat... very excited...
Initial pages:
God, is this refreshing compared to the "Since You Ask" book I'm also reading now. Like the heroine in that book, the one in this tome also is a woman in therapy, but Schmitter doesn't hem and haw around like Wareham. Already in the first 7 pages there's more of a rounded character and generosity in what she tells the reader about herself and what's she's thinking than in Wareham's first 67 pages. A solid mood is established and sustained. AND I CARE! Will go out on a limb here and issue a temporary four-star rating. ...reading on....
So yes, another "woman stuck in the safe but barren marriage" school of lit. But she writes with great feeling. We've read this story before; but it's HOW it's told that matters. And she can tell it.
NEARLY HALFWAY:
Bored wife. A love affair. Mooning over a past love. Deception. A dark secret involving a hit and run. Nothing new per se in the subject matter. It's an old story, and yet it's told afresh, with great confidence by a writer in command of her craft and with a sensitivity of touch and deep feeling. I might be overrating it a little, but so far I can't really fault it any way.
Five stars so far.
continuing....
December 19, 2019
Don't understand the low rating. I thought this was really quite good and it had my attention from beginning to end.
November 26, 2013
I discovered Elke Schmitter’s ‘Mrs.Sartoris’ through a friend's review of it.
‘Mrs.Sartoris’ is narrated by Margarethe, a forty-year old woman, who is the Mrs.Sartoris of the title. She is married to Ernst and has a teenage daughter, Daniela. The whole book has two story strands. In the first of them, which starts the book, Margarethe talks about how one evening it was raining and she was driving and she saw a man in front of her trying to cross the road and deliberately hit him and killed him on the spot. The police are investigating the case, but because there are no eye witnesses, they are not able to make much progress. We don’t know the identity of the dead man, but from Margarethe’s description, it looks like there is a past story and our heroine had a strong reason for doing what she did. In the second strand, our heroine describes how whenever she goes out to meet her friends and comes back her husband checks her breath discreetly because he is worried about her drinking. To explain why, our heroine talks about her past, starting from her first love and how she fell in love with a young man who turned out to be from a rich family and how he broke her heart. She also describes how she met Ernst later and got married to him. There is a beautiful portrait of Irmi, her mother-in-law, who was one of my favourite characters in the book. She also talks about the troubled relationship she always had with her daughter Daniela, since Daniela’s birth, because Daniela always seems to look beyond the façade and see the real face of her mother. Margarethe talks about how, though she tolerated her life with Ernst, she didn’t really love him (though she loved Irmi) because of her memory of her first love and wondering what might have been. Then one day she meets a man at a music concert she performs in and there is an immediate spark which leads to an affair. Michael, her lover, gives her things that Ernst cannot and after a while, our heroine starts making long-term plans with him. Michael is very circumspect about it, though. Then one day, Margarethe tells Michael that they should leave their families, move to Venice and start life anew. Michael, after dithering a bit, agrees to it. Do Margarethe and Michael manage to get away from their families and start a new life? What about those who are left behind – the loyal Ernst, the loving Irmi and the troubled Daniela? What about Michael’s family? What about the second strand of the story in which our heroine kills someone deliberately? The answer to these questions and how the two strands get woven together in the end form the rest of the story.
I loved ‘Mrs.Sartoris’. Elke Schmitter’s prose is smooth and elegant, like a Rolls Royce or a Merc, and there is no superfluous word. Not even one. The first half of the story is slow-paced with beautiful sentences and is a pleasure to read. In the second part, the pace picks up and it becomes a page-turning thriller. And it is still a pleasure to read. The book is just 143 pages long and Schmitter has managed to pack in so many things in those few pages. I liked the main character, the narrator Margarethe, though her moral compass doesn’t exactly point north. When she starts her affair with Michael I found myself asking her : “Margarethe sweetheart, why are you doing this? You have a wonderful, solid, loyal husband and a loving, warm and affectionate mother-in-law. Most people would kill for a mother-in-law like that. Why are you throwing all this away?” It looks like Margarethe hears my question and lament, because she gives her reply in page 99. It is passionate and convincing, but it doesn’t change my mind. I must be getting old, I think. My favourite character was Irmi, Ernst’s mother and Margarethe’s mother-in-law. When I read the description of the scene in which she makes her first appearance :
When we got engaged, Irmi had just turned fifty, and she dazzled me. She was a war widow, her only son had had one lower leg blown away in battle, her income could even be described as wretched – but she always looked as if she’d won the lottery and was just waiting for people she could share it with. The first time she saw me, she immediately embraced me and led us into the parlor for coffee s if I were the daughter of a queen. Ernst told me you are beautiful, she said as she cut into the cake, but he didn’t tell me just how beautiful you are!
I totally fell in love with her. I wish she had a bigger part to play in the story.
Ernst, Philip (Margarethe’s first love), Michael, Renate (Margarethe’s friend), Daniela all have their parts to play. Daniela’s part increases in importance towards the end of the story.
I loved ‘Mrs.Sartoris’. I loved Schmitter’s elegant prose, I loved the even pace of the story, I loved the heroine and her thoughts and questions about life and I loved Irmi. This book is a perfect little gem. It is one of my favourite reads of the year. I can’t wait to read Elke Schmitter’s next book. I checked in Amazon and discovered one more book by her – ‘Leichte Verfehlungen’ (Minor Misdemeanours) – and one slated for release next year – ‘Veras Tochter’ (Vera’s Daughter). I hope both of them get translated into English.
I will leave you with some of my favourite lines from the book.
Daniela was made of feathers, light as a butterfly, with red-gold down for hair, eyes that were almost transparent, more of a delicate moth than a baby.
I have always had trouble – and it’s never gotten any better – taking in a face and a name at one and the same time. I always settle for the face…
I had always thought that poetry was not worth much because it was hopelessly exaggerated; now my reservations were reversed : I thought, if that’s all the poets have to say, it’s totally inadequate, a tepid half-representation of reality.
We didn’t need things to keep us busy and I no longer had any idea how we spent our time; I remember our happiness, but I don’t remember the shape it took.
Ernst wanted a girl, which surprised me a little; I thought all men wanted a son. I’m lucky with women, he said, looking happily at both me and Irmi, and his wish was granted.
His life’s goal was to be comfortable, he was as transparent in that regard as a glass of water, and he only thought about people in any serious way if they troubled his comfort.
The animals calmed me down, in particular the huge eyes of the cows, which observed me neutrally. I wished passionately that I was seventeen again; if I were as old as Daniela, I thought, or just a little older, this scene would have an innocent charm, because everyone believes a young girl is entranced by ruminant beasts; it’s somewhat laughable in a grown woman – you don’t stand there by a trampled field in a silk dress making yourself loved with lumps of sugar.
The clock in here was never accurate, but Irmi felt that wasn’t the point, a kitchen clock was only there to make you feel comfortable and at home, and she was probably right.
In the moment when I fetched a glass of tap water and sat down beside him, as if for a great debate, and looked at him in silence, in that moment I lost the chance to make a nothing out of all this something, and make the catastrophe simply go away.
Have you read Elke Schmitter’s ‘Mrs.Sartoris’? What do you think about it?
‘Mrs.Sartoris’ is narrated by Margarethe, a forty-year old woman, who is the Mrs.Sartoris of the title. She is married to Ernst and has a teenage daughter, Daniela. The whole book has two story strands. In the first of them, which starts the book, Margarethe talks about how one evening it was raining and she was driving and she saw a man in front of her trying to cross the road and deliberately hit him and killed him on the spot. The police are investigating the case, but because there are no eye witnesses, they are not able to make much progress. We don’t know the identity of the dead man, but from Margarethe’s description, it looks like there is a past story and our heroine had a strong reason for doing what she did. In the second strand, our heroine describes how whenever she goes out to meet her friends and comes back her husband checks her breath discreetly because he is worried about her drinking. To explain why, our heroine talks about her past, starting from her first love and how she fell in love with a young man who turned out to be from a rich family and how he broke her heart. She also describes how she met Ernst later and got married to him. There is a beautiful portrait of Irmi, her mother-in-law, who was one of my favourite characters in the book. She also talks about the troubled relationship she always had with her daughter Daniela, since Daniela’s birth, because Daniela always seems to look beyond the façade and see the real face of her mother. Margarethe talks about how, though she tolerated her life with Ernst, she didn’t really love him (though she loved Irmi) because of her memory of her first love and wondering what might have been. Then one day she meets a man at a music concert she performs in and there is an immediate spark which leads to an affair. Michael, her lover, gives her things that Ernst cannot and after a while, our heroine starts making long-term plans with him. Michael is very circumspect about it, though. Then one day, Margarethe tells Michael that they should leave their families, move to Venice and start life anew. Michael, after dithering a bit, agrees to it. Do Margarethe and Michael manage to get away from their families and start a new life? What about those who are left behind – the loyal Ernst, the loving Irmi and the troubled Daniela? What about Michael’s family? What about the second strand of the story in which our heroine kills someone deliberately? The answer to these questions and how the two strands get woven together in the end form the rest of the story.
I loved ‘Mrs.Sartoris’. Elke Schmitter’s prose is smooth and elegant, like a Rolls Royce or a Merc, and there is no superfluous word. Not even one. The first half of the story is slow-paced with beautiful sentences and is a pleasure to read. In the second part, the pace picks up and it becomes a page-turning thriller. And it is still a pleasure to read. The book is just 143 pages long and Schmitter has managed to pack in so many things in those few pages. I liked the main character, the narrator Margarethe, though her moral compass doesn’t exactly point north. When she starts her affair with Michael I found myself asking her : “Margarethe sweetheart, why are you doing this? You have a wonderful, solid, loyal husband and a loving, warm and affectionate mother-in-law. Most people would kill for a mother-in-law like that. Why are you throwing all this away?” It looks like Margarethe hears my question and lament, because she gives her reply in page 99. It is passionate and convincing, but it doesn’t change my mind. I must be getting old, I think. My favourite character was Irmi, Ernst’s mother and Margarethe’s mother-in-law. When I read the description of the scene in which she makes her first appearance :
When we got engaged, Irmi had just turned fifty, and she dazzled me. She was a war widow, her only son had had one lower leg blown away in battle, her income could even be described as wretched – but she always looked as if she’d won the lottery and was just waiting for people she could share it with. The first time she saw me, she immediately embraced me and led us into the parlor for coffee s if I were the daughter of a queen. Ernst told me you are beautiful, she said as she cut into the cake, but he didn’t tell me just how beautiful you are!
I totally fell in love with her. I wish she had a bigger part to play in the story.
Ernst, Philip (Margarethe’s first love), Michael, Renate (Margarethe’s friend), Daniela all have their parts to play. Daniela’s part increases in importance towards the end of the story.
I loved ‘Mrs.Sartoris’. I loved Schmitter’s elegant prose, I loved the even pace of the story, I loved the heroine and her thoughts and questions about life and I loved Irmi. This book is a perfect little gem. It is one of my favourite reads of the year. I can’t wait to read Elke Schmitter’s next book. I checked in Amazon and discovered one more book by her – ‘Leichte Verfehlungen’ (Minor Misdemeanours) – and one slated for release next year – ‘Veras Tochter’ (Vera’s Daughter). I hope both of them get translated into English.
I will leave you with some of my favourite lines from the book.
Daniela was made of feathers, light as a butterfly, with red-gold down for hair, eyes that were almost transparent, more of a delicate moth than a baby.
I have always had trouble – and it’s never gotten any better – taking in a face and a name at one and the same time. I always settle for the face…
I had always thought that poetry was not worth much because it was hopelessly exaggerated; now my reservations were reversed : I thought, if that’s all the poets have to say, it’s totally inadequate, a tepid half-representation of reality.
We didn’t need things to keep us busy and I no longer had any idea how we spent our time; I remember our happiness, but I don’t remember the shape it took.
Ernst wanted a girl, which surprised me a little; I thought all men wanted a son. I’m lucky with women, he said, looking happily at both me and Irmi, and his wish was granted.
His life’s goal was to be comfortable, he was as transparent in that regard as a glass of water, and he only thought about people in any serious way if they troubled his comfort.
The animals calmed me down, in particular the huge eyes of the cows, which observed me neutrally. I wished passionately that I was seventeen again; if I were as old as Daniela, I thought, or just a little older, this scene would have an innocent charm, because everyone believes a young girl is entranced by ruminant beasts; it’s somewhat laughable in a grown woman – you don’t stand there by a trampled field in a silk dress making yourself loved with lumps of sugar.
The clock in here was never accurate, but Irmi felt that wasn’t the point, a kitchen clock was only there to make you feel comfortable and at home, and she was probably right.
In the moment when I fetched a glass of tap water and sat down beside him, as if for a great debate, and looked at him in silence, in that moment I lost the chance to make a nothing out of all this something, and make the catastrophe simply go away.
Have you read Elke Schmitter’s ‘Mrs.Sartoris’? What do you think about it?
March 17, 2019
3.5. Emma, B-
January 30, 2022
Deze roman gaat, als je het oppervlakkig bekijkt, over ongeluk in de liefde. Maar het is geen chicklit of liefdes(verdriet)romannetje.
Het is een boek over het leven van een jonge vrouw uit de kleine Duitse burgerij in de jaren na de 2e Wereldoorlog die geen kans ziet aan haar milieu te ontsnappen en haar dromen waar te maken. En die steeds het geluk blijft verwachten van een ridder op het witte paard. Maar de enkele "ridders" die ze ontmoet redden haar niet en galopperen er al snel vandoor. De gelatenheid waarmee ze verder leeft wordt enkel doorbroken als ze ziet dat het leven van haar enige dochter verkeerd dreigt te lopen.
Ik ben er me van bewust dat ik hier geen echt wervende tekst schreef maar het loont de moeite om deze novelle van slechts 143 blz. te lezen, als je die nog ergens vindt want de Nederlandse editie verscheen in 2001 en is dus "stokoud". Ik las een afgeschreven exemplaar uit de Genkse bibliotheek.
Het is een boek over het leven van een jonge vrouw uit de kleine Duitse burgerij in de jaren na de 2e Wereldoorlog die geen kans ziet aan haar milieu te ontsnappen en haar dromen waar te maken. En die steeds het geluk blijft verwachten van een ridder op het witte paard. Maar de enkele "ridders" die ze ontmoet redden haar niet en galopperen er al snel vandoor. De gelatenheid waarmee ze verder leeft wordt enkel doorbroken als ze ziet dat het leven van haar enige dochter verkeerd dreigt te lopen.
Ik ben er me van bewust dat ik hier geen echt wervende tekst schreef maar het loont de moeite om deze novelle van slechts 143 blz. te lezen, als je die nog ergens vindt want de Nederlandse editie verscheen in 2001 en is dus "stokoud". Ik las een afgeschreven exemplaar uit de Genkse bibliotheek.
March 31, 2021
The story goes back and forth in time and the reader learns about the main character. Her marriage is secure but she is bored. Suffering the loss of her first love, she settles for Ernst. In middle age she has a passionate affair and longs to run away. But she is thwarted by her lover. In a parallel story her daughter is in an abusive affair with an older man. Mrs. Sartoris kills her daughter's pimp? Will she get away with murder? It seems obvious. The mystery throughout the story was who was the hit and run victim Philip? Ernst? Michael? No the pimp.
June 26, 2023
Mrs Sartoris focuses on a family in freefall. The title character, 40-year-old Margarethe, her devoted husband Ernst, and their troubled young daughter Daniela. They are all bored and unsatisfied with their lives. Mrs Sartoris has settled for Ernst, following the ending of a previous, passionate relationship. She is in a job that pays the bills, but soon starts another passionate affair, which would go further, and offer her the escape and passion that she wants, but the man she has fallen for is also married.
Ernst knows about the affair. Soon Daniella is also having an affair with a much older man. The two stories become interlinked. Has Mrs Sartoris, in trying to protect her daughter’s safety, and the reputation of her family overstepped a line?
The book is only short, at less than 150 pages. There are passages of pure beauty in the book, but we also get a sense of the stultifying boredom that Mrs Sartoris faces, how predictable and boring her life has become, and how she wants more. We also are led to feel for Ernst, and how his life of devoted caring for a woman and daughter who don’t feel the same way has made him the shadow of the man he could have been.
This is a novel of quiet, sad dreams unrealised, and how they impact people. The book is very well written, and paced, but the denouement feels a little rushed, but the book is slightly longer than a novella and packs more than enough into its short length to make it a worthwhile read.
Ernst knows about the affair. Soon Daniella is also having an affair with a much older man. The two stories become interlinked. Has Mrs Sartoris, in trying to protect her daughter’s safety, and the reputation of her family overstepped a line?
The book is only short, at less than 150 pages. There are passages of pure beauty in the book, but we also get a sense of the stultifying boredom that Mrs Sartoris faces, how predictable and boring her life has become, and how she wants more. We also are led to feel for Ernst, and how his life of devoted caring for a woman and daughter who don’t feel the same way has made him the shadow of the man he could have been.
This is a novel of quiet, sad dreams unrealised, and how they impact people. The book is very well written, and paced, but the denouement feels a little rushed, but the book is slightly longer than a novella and packs more than enough into its short length to make it a worthwhile read.
April 25, 2022
başlarda her şey güzel ilerliyordu ama diyebilirim ki michael dahil olduktan sonra her şey bozulmaya başladı. ayrıca kitabın sonu saçma bitti, arada gelecekten verilen kesitler falan çok hoşuma gitmişti okurken ama sonda neredeyse bir yere bağlanmamış gibi oldu ve arabayla çarpılan kişinin michael, ernst ve philip arasından hangisi olduğu da kesin değil. 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2017
Captivating from the very beginning.
July 11, 2018
Intriguing, real and touching. P.s Croatia won
April 11, 2022
Böyle bitmemeliydi. Çok aceleci ve anlamsız bitti
September 1, 2022
this book holds it own without knowing the original, curious if it will work the other way...
time to dig out Madam Bovary and read it this time ...
time to dig out Madam Bovary and read it this time ...
March 16, 2025
A really good read. Well written and totally absorbing. Read in 2 sittings. Empathy with our deeply flawed protagonist that keeps the reader hooked until the end!
April 23, 2025
3,8 Ein Leben und wie man es ohne Not aushalten kann. Also wirklich ohne Not. Selbst auferlegte Konstrukte und Abhängigkeit von Männern, wobei von diesen wenigstens einer überfahren wird.
May 3, 2019
Pa, očekivala sam više... Iako mi se stilski dopala, nije me dodirnula dublje...
September 13, 2025
It was touted as a Madame Bovary set in postwar Germany.
A small town. An older husband who just wants peace. An attractive younger wife earning decent money, with a pouting teen and a mother in law she really likes.
Then there’s a new guy in town, a regional Culture Ministry official who is handsome, roving—and married to the heir to a bakery chain. He likes to dance; her husband stays on the sidelines with his artificial leg, from a WWII injury.
The story is interspersed with the mystery of an apparent hit-and-run killing, investigated by an ambitious politician.
A small town. An older husband who just wants peace. An attractive younger wife earning decent money, with a pouting teen and a mother in law she really likes.
Then there’s a new guy in town, a regional Culture Ministry official who is handsome, roving—and married to the heir to a bakery chain. He likes to dance; her husband stays on the sidelines with his artificial leg, from a WWII injury.
The story is interspersed with the mystery of an apparent hit-and-run killing, investigated by an ambitious politician.
April 25, 2012
Two books to have a look at this Good Friday (not a bad day weather-wise). The first is German author Elke Schmitter's Mrs Sartoris. A subtle, but very dark, novel that explores the life of an ordinary - but spurned - titular character. For a text that revolves around the boredom of suburban life in a small German city, it is surprisingly engaging.
As an exploration of marriage, motherhood, sensuality and bourgeois morality in the post-war period, this is a well-composed and balanced novel about the ways in which a wronged woman might choose to hit back. Recommended.
As an exploration of marriage, motherhood, sensuality and bourgeois morality in the post-war period, this is a well-composed and balanced novel about the ways in which a wronged woman might choose to hit back. Recommended.
February 24, 2016
Grossartig packende Lektuere... der Spiessbuergermief, -muff und -moder der Provinz, was der Krieg hinterlassen hat, gestorbene Hoffnungen, die auf eine Wiederauferstehung gieren, und die Sinnlosigkeit mancher Lebenslaeufe. Unglaublich genaues Bild dessen was in der Provinz geschehen kann wenn Menschen ohne Inhalt einfach so daherleben.
February 3, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. i read it on a holiday in an afternoon, and it's a really good choice for a quick read for a holiday. Although i didn't like the last 10 pages of the book, but the overall however is very powerful and the story totally pulls you in it.
December 24, 2012
Good. Short. Somewhat strange.
March 29, 2014
Very good novel. Not lengthy, finished in a day.
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