The frame story of this shorter novel is set in Prussia on the 24th of December, 1845. Louise von Briest and her husband Alvin are waiting to celebrate Christmas Eve on their estate with their friend Paul who is traveling to them by train. But the train does not arrive and they realize that there must have been an accident because of a snowstorm. Alvin and another friend, Otto von Bismarck (yes - the historical Bismarck), decide to organize a search party on horseback in order to find the train and save the lives of Paul and the other passengers who might be injured and snowed in without any food or warmth.
Louise and her young son stay on the estate, worried and anxious. To calm the boy, Louise tells him the story of a medieval knight traveling through a snowy forest with his children. The novel alternates between the two stories - Louise, the searchers and Paul, who leaves the train wreck with a few other men to find help, and the medieval knight and his children.

I enjoyed the 19th century story much more than the medieval one, and it was what I had signed up for - before buying the book, I had not realized that the story that Louise tells her son is longer than the frame story itself. Moreover, while it has a sort of Christmassy message in the end, it is an immensely brutal story, filled with dead people and animals. The knight and his children are pursued by a pack of wolves and have to fight them repeatedly, and this is repetitive as well as horrible. While I understand that the hardships are there to get the message across, I think that so much brutality is unnecessary. I felt sick sometimes from the detailed descriptions. The cover of the book, as well as the subtitle A Christmas Novel, suggest a very different content and atmosphere.

The 19th century story was better and the atmosphere reminded me a little of Fontane at times. It is very Prussian and I liked Paul's enthusiasm for trains as well as the inclusion of a local legend. Still, I had expected more Christmas content (the subtitle!!!). There is also a love triangle between Louise and the two friends and I was not interested in that in the least. ( )