“The fascinating story of a woman’s emancipation, told by the magician, Alex Capus.”
Rainer Moritz, NZZ
“Alex Capus is the master of suggestion. His novel brings history to life.”
Martin Ebel, Tages-Anzeiger
This is a moving story of a headstrong, daring woman based on true events. Susanna, a Swiss painter, goes West to meet Sitting Bull, the chief of the Sioux tribe. In very beautiful, empathetic prose, Alex Capus sets his story in an epoch when shunting steam engines ruled the day.
Old certainties are no longer valid, and new ones have yet to be established. In New York, the Brooklyn Bridge is opened and Edison’s lightbulbs illuminate the city. At the centre of it all is Susanna, a woman from Basel who has emigrated to the USA with her mother. Machines are conquering the world and in the West, indigenous people are fighting for their survival. False prophets promise paradise on earth and the cavalry is on standby, pistols at the ready. With her son, Susanna travels to the Dakota Territory to warn Sitting Bull of what is happening. Her portrait of him hangs today in the North Dakota State Museum.