Beyond recall

de Theodor Fontane

This haunting novel has long not been easily available in English, but now several translations do exist (see https://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Theod...). The title literally means "Unbringbackable". The plot is deceptively simple: a religious and serious-minded woman marries a responsible but light-hearted nobleman, they have two kids and live by the sea peacefully for years, until the husband becomes infatuated with a young woman at court and leaves the wife (only to be rejected immediately by his young girlfriend). Husband and wife eventually reunite, but soon afterwards, she commits suicide. The novel has linguistic motifs in the same way that "Peter and the Wolf" has musical motifs. Reams have been written about this book, and it has been televised and made into movies (in German) more than once. The German text is available free for electronic readers. I've read it in both the original German and in English--a worthy read, either way, but as always, better in German if you can manage it.