Madame Gstaad

In their first novel, Gottfried and Andrea von Siebenthal tell the fascinating life story of Emilie Steffen-von Siebenthal (1846 - 1922) in a fact-filled and imaginative way. Growing up in poverty with 14 siblings and with only one year of schooling, the young Emilie got to know a new world as a lady-in-waiting in a castle in Paris. Back in Gstaad, she married the village baker, became the mother of five children and a widow at the age of 48. In 1898, she lost her entire livelihood in the village fire and was made the guilty party. Against all odds, she became a formative figure in the village during the time of flourishing tourism - "Madame Gstaad".