When men stand up for their beliefs and contest social and political conventions, they are deemed heroes. When women do the same, they are considered fanatics. Michaela Karl describes the lives of women who, like the Greek mythological figure of Antigone, put their beliefs before the law. Women who would not shy away from violence in their courageous fight for women’s and general human rights, for freedom and peace. Setting high moral standards for themselves and others did not always keep them from making wrong decisions, but they bravely faced the consequences of their radical actions. With a keen sense for inner conflict and self-doubt, Michaela Karl bases her portraits on personal letters, journals, writings and memories, tracing the impressive lives of women who swam against the tide of their time. Charlotte Corday, the murderer Jean Paul Marats Mathilde Franziska Anneke, the German amazone Harriet Tubman, Moses of her people Bertha von Suttner, the champion for universal peace Vera Figner, the prisoner of the tsar Clara Zetkin, the Grande Dame of the German labour movement Emmeline Pankhurst, the Queen of the suffragettes Constance Markievicz, the rebellious countess Emma Goldman, the most dangerous woman of the United States Tina Modotti, the Jeanne d’Arc with a camera Tamara Bunke, the combatant of Che Guevaras Phoolan Devi, the queen of the outlaws

During the Roaring Twenties she was the queen of New York. Her sharp tongue and biting humor were legendary. She quarreled with Ernest Hemingway, slept with F. Scott Fitzgerald and got drunk with Truman Capote. Dorothy Parker wrote for “Vogue”, “Vanity Fair” and “The New Yorker” and was a member of the legendary Algonquin Round Table, where the city’s cultural crème-de-la-crème came together. Her sarcastic verses and poignant short stories are revealed as tales of broken dreams and waiting for the phone to ring. She became a successful screenwriter in Hollywood, but her career was cut short when she was put on Senator McCarthy’s blacklist because of her political involvement against fascism and racism. Michaela Karl is the first to present a German biography of Dorothy Parker. She portrays her unconventional life and, behind the cynical façade, discovers a sensitive woman on the quest to finding happiness.

He gave an era its name. She was the main character in all his novels. Together they were the dream couple of the Jazz Age and the ‘lost generation’. The famous author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived their lives to the fullest, seeking happiness, yet finding desperation. Rich and successful, infamous for their antics and excessive drinking habits in New York, Paris and on the French Riviera, they were the idols of an entire generation. But soon the blessed were damned: their excessive lifestyle, creative blocks and mental issues all contributed to the couple’s downfall. The myth, however, continues to flourish… Michaela Karl paints a vivid biographical portrait of an entire era and the two main characters whose lives became literature.