Effi Briest (German pronunciation: [ˈɛfi ˈbʁiːst]) is a realist novel by Theodor Fontane.

Published in book form in 1895, Effi Briest marks both a watershed and a climax in the poetic realism of literature.

It can be thematically compared to other novels on 19th-century marriage from a female perspective, such as Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary,[1] which are also adultery tragedies.

Seventeen-year-old Effi Briest, the daughter of a German aristocrat, is married off to 38-year-old Baron Geert von Innstetten, who courted her mother Luise and was spurned for his status, which he has now improved.

Effi Briest, who is attracted by social status, moves to the fictional Pomeranian port of Kessin (loosely modeled on Swinemünde).

Her husband Innstetten is away for weeks at a time, and Effi, who is shunned by local nobles, finds but one friend.

Years later, Effi's daughter Annie is growing up, and the family moves to Berlin due to Innstetten's ascent.

In the end scene, her parents vaguely concede guilt for her fate without daring to question the social canons that sparked the tragedy, citing the German maxim, "That would be too wide a field" (ein weites Feld).

His ascent made them move to Düsseldorf in the summer of 1881, where they met the famed and unhappily married judge Emil Hartwich (1843–1886).

His divorce on 15 March 1887 gave him full custody of his children, and his ex-wife set about caring for the deprived and disabled.

Fontane knew that Elisabeth did not retreat as Effi did; instead, she began to work and devote herself to the needy.