When I saw the title of this book I wondered. He was such an argumentative dour fellow that never could play well with his colleagues.

Not that I don't recognize the man's contributions, but I thought it was 'good riddance Freud' once I graduated. In this sweeping tale of love, loyalty, and betrayal - between a husband and a wife, between sisters - fact and fiction seamlessly blend together, creating a compelling portrait of an unforgettable woman and her struggle to reconcile her love for her sister with her obsessive desire for her sister's husband, the mythic father of psychoanalysis. She and Freud embark on what is at first simply an intellectual courtship, yet something deeper is brewing beneath the surface, something Minna cannot escape. Minna is everything Martha is not- intellectually curious, engaging, and passionate. And while Martha is shocked and repulsed by her husband's 'pornographic' work, Minna is fascinated. At this time, Freud is a struggling professor, all but shunned by his peers and under attack for his theories, most of which center around sexual impulses. Martha has her own problems, six young children, and an absent, disinterested husband who happens to be Sigmund Freud. Out of desperation, she turns to her sister, Martha, for help. In 1895, the city may be aswirl with avant-garde artists and revolutionary ideas, yet a woman's only hope for security is still marriage. She finds herself out on the street and out of options.

It is fin de siècle Vienna and Minna Bernays, an overeducated lady's companion with a sharp, wry wit, is abruptly fired, yet again, from her position. A page-turning novel inspired by the true-life love affair between Sigmund Freud and his sister-in-law.

Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack