The Flash and Outbreak of a Fiery Mind

Who was Martha Bernays Freud? What were her thoughts, feelings and conflicts about Freud during their four year engagement? How did she cope with Freud's possessive jealousy? Who were her family and her friends? What were her interests? What were the conditions of her education? What were her reactions to certain cultural events throughout the engagement? Freud was in Vienna and Martha lived in Wandsbek, Germany near the Northern coastline of Germany. How did Martha deal with her loneliness of being physically so far away from the man she loved? How did she find a balance between her mother and Freud who both attempted to completely dominate her? How was she able to persevere in her love in such a difficult situation? How did she develop the courage to change, to find her own voice, to transform herself from an unassuming, compliant girl into an assertive but kindly woman who required recognition and satisfaction of her own emotional needs?

This book is a fictional depiction of 192 letters Martha Bernays wrote to Freud from 1882-1886. The letters span the four years of their engagement.