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A Picture of Lydia
A millionaire heiress and a genius painter: a scandalous belle époque love affair. Lukas Hartmann has written a novel about the fate of a woman who breaks with the conventions of her time.
She is intelligent, fascinated by art – and after the death of her father, the »railway king« Alfred Escher, she is the richest woman in Switzerland. She is married to the son of a powerful politician. She is prepared to put all that at risk out of her love for an artist. Who is Lydia? No one knows her better than Luise, the maid who stays by her side through all of life’s twists and turns. And yet Lydia remains a mystery to her.
›Literature Prize of the Canton of Berne‹
English sample translation available.
»In his approach, Lukas Hartmann makes skilled use of literature’s advantage, making historical facts come to life again and combining them with emotions.«
»The plot has got everything it takes to make it a riveting novel. And it also has a special note of being based on a true story.«
»A true story about Lydia Welti-Escher and Karl Stauffer-Bern, told by their maid. With fascinating insights into high society.«
»The complex relationship between Lydia and Luise [. . .] creates a fascinating dynamic which will appeal to readers of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels. This beautifully-written novel will also find an eager English-language readership among the international Downton Abbey fan-base.«