fierce loyalty to her brother, and the dazzling, disquieting charm of her American sister-in-law Sarah shape the book’s emotional core. The opening of the novel presents Renée as a child on a lakeside estate, mourning her dog Uncas, chafing at dull lessons, and longing for a true friend. She bonds with her cousin Felicitas (“Fly”), plays elaborate make-believe, rides with her father, and idolizes her brother Hannsbabo, whose secret love for a singer clashes with their father before he leaves for America. Growing older, Renée enters school, develops an intense, idealized attachment to the proud classmate Edel, then goes to a boarding pension where she wins the girls’ loyalty but meets the headmistress’s hostility while feeling Edel’s coolness. News arrives that Hannsbabo is engaged to the wealthy, alluring Sarah; Renée returns home, spars with her father over religious conformity, and is coached by her sister in social rules. In Berlin she is presented at court, dazzled by Sarah’s brilliance and freedom, and forms “good-friend” bonds with young officers like Schoenburg and Wachenhusen (and later Rodeck). At Sarah’s spectacular ball, amid royalty and glitter, Hannsbabo falters; in private he confesses to Renée a love that torments him, hinting at a hollow marriage beneath the shine. The section closes with social maneuvering at home, including the Landrat Horwitz’s evident courtship of Elisabeth. (This is an automatically generated summary.)