I loved this book. It was truly beautiful. ( )

Adalbert Stifter is another great German author whose works were read and praised by several famous German writers, including Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Rainer Maria Rilke. However, hardly any of his works have been translated and Stifter remains almost unknown to English readers, except for the novella Bergkristall (English: Rock Crystal) which appeared in translation a few years ago, published by the NYRB.

Brigitta has appeared in a translation by Helen Watanabe-O'Kelly in two editions, as Brigitta and Other Tales in the series of Penguin Classics and Brigitta, with Abdias, Limestone & the Forest Path, an edition published by Angel Books

The novels and stories of Adalbert Stifter are characterized by their intense and beautiful descriptions of nature. In Brigitta, that is the countryside and the manors of the two main characters, located in Hungary. The unspoilt wilderness of the Hungarian puszta also prepares the reader for an exceptional tale of love, as would perhaps be hard to find in the author's native Germany.

The story of Brigitta is about unrequited love. The reader's perspective is limited and guided by the observations of the unnamed narrator. The narrator travels to Hungary at the invitation of his friends, referred to as "the Major" to visit and stay with him at his manor for as long as he wishes. The narrator had met the Major during his travels in Italy, many years ago, when they were both unconcerned bachelors. On his way to the Major's manor, Uwar, the friend passes by the neighbouring manor Maroshely. The reader is brought up to date on the life of Brigitta Maroshely in a chapter that interrupts the narrative. Brigitta was born and grew up as a very ungly young woman, and was considered very lucky to marry the attractive, rich Stephan Murai. After a few years of happiness, she discovers that Murai betrayed her through an adulturous relationship. In wrath, she tells him to leave and withdrew to her ancestral manor, to take up its guardianship, which she handles with great dexterity.

The Major has lived as Brigitta's neighbour for many decades, admiring her silently. He nursed her back to health through a grave illness, and, back in the novella's narrative, she nurses the Major after he was wounded while rescuing Brigitta's handsome son, Gustav.

Brigitta is a powerful and impressive story about valor. Brigitta is no beauty in the common sense, but sometimes, beauty is found in the wilderness (Oft wird die Schönheit nicht gesehen, weil sie in der Wüste ist (p. 36). Brigitta feared that that her lover, Stephan Murai would abandon her, and therefore during their coutship, she warned him that loving her would require an unusual, higher kind of love:

Ich weiß, daß ich häßlich bin, darum würde ich eine höhere Liebe fordern, als das schönste Mädchen dieser Erde. Ich weiß es nicht, wie hoch, aber mir ist, als sollte sie ohne Maß und Ende sein. (p. 44).

The Major loves Brigitta, but is not sure whether he is worthy of her love. Brigitta strength is not only proven by her early awareness and courage, but also in her steadfastness.

Adalbert Stifter's Brigitta, published in 1844, is a story at least as compelling and beatiful in its celebration of ruggedness as Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. ( )