Editor Reviews:

Book Description:
In 1919 Thomas Mann hailed Effi Briest (1895) as one of "the six most significant novels ever written." Set in Bismarck's Germany, Fontane's luminous tale of a socially suitable but emotionally disastrous match between the enchanting seventeen-year-old Effi and an austere, workaholic civil servant twice her age, is at once touching and unsettling. Fontane's taut, ironic narrative depicts a world where sexuality and the enjoyment of life are stifled by narrow-mindedness and circumstance. Considered by many to be the pinnacle of the nineteenth-century German novel, Effi Briest is a tale of adultery that ranks with Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina and brilliantly demonstrates the truth of the author's comment and "women's stories are generally far more interesting."

Rating : - MUCH MORE THAN I EXPECTED
I didn't really expect to like this book. Was I surprised. An excellent book, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I bought it based on a review in the Wall Street Journal (or was it the Washington Post).

I currently reside in Germany, so I found the historical context interesting. I find myself pondering the actions of the men and women, Effi and Geert in particular.

If I were Geert, given the times, would I react in a similar way? Perhaps. I know I've read a good book if I continue to think about it long after finishing it.