Though the name of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff was little known during her lifetime, she is now recognised, more than 160 years after her death, as a significant German poet. Her work is linguistically challenging and her imagery taxing, but a study of it can prove richly rewarding. This book aims to open up this opportunity to Englishspeaking readers. Conscious that it would be both difficult and inappropriate to attempt to separate Droste-Hülshoff's work from the woman, her life and the religious climate in which she lived, Marion Tymms, a scholar of German literature for more than half a century, has written God's sorely-tested child to offer new insight into the author's life and work, focusing on her poetic cycle Das Geistliche Jahr (The Spiritual Year) and presenting a complete translation of it.