Freud's Mistress
After being dismissed from yet another position as a lady’s companion, Minna Bernays sheepishly moves in with her older sister to help run the household and take care of Martha’s six children. Martha’s husband doesn’t seem to be much help as the brainy Sigmund Freud is refining a set of psychological theories that Viennese society finds controversial, Martha finds perverse, but Minna finds fascinating. Sigmund and Minna quickly develop an intellectual bond, but she becomes consumed with thoughts of a more intimate relationship. As intellectual and romantic horizons open for Minna, she wonders if the risk is worth the reward. Inspired by the real affair between Sigmund Freud and his sister-in-law, Freud’s Mistress combines the glamor of high-society Vienna and the squalor and scandal of the servant class. Mack and Kaufman skillfully mix fact and fiction, rounding out details of the famous analyst’s academic work with depictions of his home life and Viennese society. A thrilling story of seduction, betrayal, and loss, Freud’s Mistress will titillate fans of Memoirs of a Geisha (1997) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2002). --Stephanie Turza