Hurdy Gurdy Girl – Eine weite Reise durch die Nacht

Luise Ludwig was 17 when she set off for Wetterau in the summer of 1863. For three years she was hired as a dancing girl by a so-called "Landgänger" (country boy): he moved with young girls from the impoverished, Hessian farming villages to foreign countries to rent them out for dancing and drinking – first in California, then in British Columbia (today Canada). For where the gold rush attracts masses of men, there is a lot of money to be made with young women.

Luise has long dreamed of a trip to the New World. But it comes worse than she ever imagined. All alone, she is stranded in a San Francisco brothel. Although she manages to escape to the Canadian gold-mining country, soon she wants only one thing: to return home.

What she experiences on her adventurous journey, what she learns from it and who she meets is told by the author in a historically precise and gripping way. Her novel is based on true events, which are explained in detail in the epilogue.

Further Information

Author Irene Stratenwerth

Reading Sample

VLB-TIX

Author's website