The seed dealer

Württemberg in the year 1850. In search of the man who got her pregnant at her parents' inn, young Hannah Brettschneider arrives in a village at the foot of the Swabian Jura: Gönningen is the home of the seed merchants who have been living off the business of tulip bulbs, flower, and vegetable seeds for nearly two centuries. They sell their seeds throughout Europe, with their travels reaching as far as Russia and America. Hannah's enthusiasm for this unusual place and its people does not last long, as Helmut, the father of her child, is engaged to the most beautiful girl in the village, Seraphine. When the wealthy merchant's son ultimately chooses Hannah, Seraphine will stop at nothing to eliminate her rival and win Helmut back. Like ivy covering a wall, her hatred engulfs Hannah's entire life. With great sensitivity and dramatic intensity, Petra Durst-Benning tells a story of longing and farewell, of wanderlust and homesickness, and of love that must be nurtured like a seed in order to thrive.