The story of young Henry, who struggles to fulfil his ambitions to
become a successful painter and is torn between the gentle Anna and the
proud and sensual Judith, is one of the most outstanding and personal
Bildungsroman writ¬ten in the German language.
Composed between 1846 and 1855, Keller's poetic, semi-autobiographical
novel draws on the author's own youth, artistic studies and development
as a man, as well as providing a comprehensive portrait of his country
and his times. Green Henry is one of the most important novels in
European literature, and undoubtedly the greatest work of fiction by a
Swiss writer.