Luise Rinser is one of the most successful contemporary West German authors. Her works span more than forty years: she experienced Germany under National Socialism, during World War II, and after 1945; she witnessed political and economic developments and changes in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s and is still writing in the late 1980s.

Rinser's name has appeared several times on the best-seller list: in the 1950s and early 1960s for her novels Mitte des Lebens (In the Middle of Life, 1950; translated as Nina, 1956) and Die vollkommene Freude (The Complete Joy, 1962), for her autobiography, Den Wolf umarmen (To Embrace the Wolf, 1981), and for her novel Mirjam (1983). Many of her books have been translated, primarily into French and Dutch; Mitte des Lebens has sold more than 500,000 copies in the German edition and has appeared in twenty-two languages, including Japanese and Hindi.

If Rinser has gained popularity through her books, she...