[1] One contemporary scholar has called it “Perhaps the most notorious and certainly the commercially most successful autobiographical narrative of the early twentieth century.”[2] Böhme was born Wilhelmina Margarete Susanna Feddersen in 1867.

Her mother's aunt was Lena Wies, a storyteller and longtime friend of Storm who furnished the novelist with legends and tales for his later work.

Later, while living in Hamburg and Vienna, Böhme worked as a correspondent for North German and Austrian newspapers.

At first, Böhme wrote what would today be termed popular fiction – but as her work matured, she turned to more serious themes.

It purportedly tells the true story of Thymian, a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution.

The book brought about not only a popular sequel, a controversial stage play banned in some German cities, a parody, and two silent films (one in 1918, and one in 1929) - but a score of imitators as well.

Lawsuits arose around its publication, and the book, widely discussed, had some small influence on social reform in Germany.

[4] Due in part to its sensational subject matter, as well as its contested nature, the book proved extremely popular.

It was published in America, where one leading review called it “a distinctly remarkable book.”[5] Much of Böhme's later fiction has a strong social message.

Christine Immersen (1913), concerns the harsh working conditions faced by women telephone operators (then just coming onto the scene).

Kriegsbriefe der Familie Wimmel (1915), written during the early days of the First World War, reflects the realities of that conflict.

[6] Rheinzauber (1909), focuses on a family feud which ends after three generations when a child brings its hostile branches together.

And in 2010, the original English language translation of Tagebuch einer Verlorenen was brought back into print as The Diary of a Lost Girl.