The Wish: A Novel

"The Wish: A Novel" by Hermann Sudermann is a story set in the late 1800s that looks at tough feelings and how people relate to each other. It mainly follows Olga, a woman dealing with tough situations and grief, specifically surrounding her sister's husband, Robert Hellinger, and their past relationship. It asks questions surrounding topics like love, death, and morals, while the characters are struggling with what they want versus what society expects from them. The entire situation begins when an old doctor thinks about his life and what's to come next, then gets a mix of happy and sad news via letters, of which the saddest delivers the news of Olga's tragic choice because she can't handle all the drama weighing down on her. The turmoil increases when the doctor deals with her decisions, and he realizes just how much it affects Robert Hellinger. Robert is greatly impacted by grief and has lots of questions about Olga's demise. The reader can expect a sad investigation into human relationships and what might happen when feelings are held in and when people are pressured by the world around them.