A Divided Heart, and Other Stories

A Divided Heart, and Other Stories is by Paul Heyse, translated into English with an introduction by Constance Stewart Copeland. The contents name, among others, A Divided Heart, Minka and Rothenburg on the Tauber. The introduction says it occasionally happens that a reader expecting to find the customary account of an author's early struggles for bread and knowledge is surprised by the record of a singularly fortunate life.

The introduction says that all classes of German society have contributed to enlarge Heyse's world of fiction, but that it is of the educated middle class that he most often writes. The introduction says the men are usually cultured, thoughtful, and passionate, and the women are beautiful, noble-minded and vivacious. The introduction names Lucile and L.'s wife in "A Divided Heart" and Christel and the Governor's lady in "Rothenburg on the Tauber" among the women who claim our interest and sympathy. A scene shows Hans, sitting by the window, casting furtive glances at the stranger, whose face takes on a more and more bitter and unhappy expression the longer she listens.