Jacobsen (1847-85) was a Danish novelist, poet and scientist who began the naturalist movement in Danish literature and was part of the Modern Breakthrough. This historical novel, first published in the original Danish in 1876 and reprinted from the English translation of 1917, is the first Danish treatment of a woman as a sexual creature. Based on the life of an authentic 17th century Danish noblewoman, it charts her downfall from a member of the royal family to the wife of a ferryman as a result of her desire for an independent and satisfying erotic life.