Onder de perenboom

"Unterm Birnbaum" is unusual for Fontane because it is a crime novel. It takes place in the (I presume fictional) village of Tschechin, which is located on the banks of the Oder river, back then in Prussia and now on the German-Polish border.
The crime happens in one of the early chapters, and it is

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not explained in detail, but it is obvious to the reader: Abel Hradscheck, an inn keeper who is highly in debt, accidentally finds a French soldier who was buried under the pear tree in his garden more than two decades ago. This gives him an idea, and he and his wife Ursel decide to kill a company representative who lodges at their inn and to whom they have given all of their money.

As the novella starts with the crime, it is obvious that this is not a whodunit, but that the story deals with the consequences of the murder. Hradscheck and Ursel expected to be happy now that their financial life is so much better, yet, they find it hard to live with the guilt and deal with it in very different ways. This is complicated by their neighbor, a whimsical old lady who observes her surroundings all day and who clearly suspects something. She succeeds in driving Hradscheck nearly mad with her carefully ambigous comments. Soon, the villagers start suspecting the couple, too...

This is a great story with a lot of interesting themes: Greed, guilt, secrets, expectations, values. The psychological aspects are more important than the plot itself and are dealt with in an impressive way. Nevertheless, reading this felt a bit laborious because there are so many other things thrown in as well: Endless ramblings of the local men meeting in the inn, more village characters who write letters and exchange their views, songs and too many dialogues. Parts of these are written in Low German (one of the eastern varieties of course, not the one spoken where I live now). Although many words can be guessed from the context and I also knew a few words from my grandfather who grew up in West Prussia, this was a bit difficult for me. I appreciate the local flavor it gives, but it hindered my reading flow.

To conclude, I think this would have been a better novella if it had been more streamlined, and it is not my favourite Fontane work, but it is worth the read for the psychological aspects. It is was especially interesting to me to compare it to "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", written around the same time and also dealing with a character who has to keep a terrible secret.

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