Christa Wolf is one of the most celebrated and controversial of German writers. She has a large and devoted global audience, has published works that have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and has received many coveted prizes. In this chronological study of her novels, short stories, and essays, Margit Resch examines Wolf's literary career and its link to her country's traumatic past.

Resch contends that any assessment of the writer must consider the historical metamorphoses of Germany during her lifetime - from fascism to socialism to democracy.

Resch explores central questions about Wolf's life and work that have been raised by scholars and readers alike: why Wolf, who enjoyed unrestricted travel privileges, remained in the East when she could easily have defected; how she was able to survive artistically in an authoritarian regime; which qualities in her writing earned the respect of major critics on both sides of the Wall; why she has chosen not to identify with the feminist movement; and what she has contributed to German and world literature.