description: The Kaiser's Germany is the setting of Sybille Bedford's first and best-known novel, in which two families -- one from solid, upholstered Jewish Berlin, the other from the somnolent, agrarian Catholic South -- become comically, tragically, irrevocably intertwined. "Each family," writes the author, "stood confident of being able to go on with what was theirs, while in fact they were playthings, often victims, of the now united Germany and what was brewing therein." Did the monstrous thing that followed have its foundation in families such as these? "Writing about them made me think so. Hence the title."
language: English
title: A Legacy
titlecomplete: A Legacy
characters: Gustavus von Felden, Baron von Felden, Eduard Merz, Julius von Felden, Clara Bernin von Felden, Count Bernin, Caroline Trafford, Gabriel von Felden, Sarah Genz-Kastell Merz, Johannes von Felden, Henrietta von Felden, Melanie Merz
genres: Literary Fiction, Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, 20th Century, Historical, Novels, German Literature, Germany, Classics
ratings_count: 794
places: Germany
publisher: Picador