The Viennese piano-making dynasty Alt is at the heart of Ernst Lothar's epic novel: After her arranged marriage to Franz Alt, Henriette finds herself trapped in a corset of constraints and tradition. Her attempts at rebellion fail, and so she places all her hopes on her eldest son, Hans. He is meant to lead the self-determined life that has been denied her. But he, too, is a prisoner of convention, an unhappy heir to the family business who only finds his true calling through countless blows of fate and the forced upheaval of society.