Natural Forces

Anton Nixdorf travels from Breslau, Prussia to Boston, Massachusetts by ship in 1850. Eighteen years old, recently graduated with a medical degree, he finds himself thrust into a confusing world of idealism, inequality, and shifting allegiances. As a young physician, he searches for knowledge and additional training. This quest finds him at odds with the conservative town of Lenox, where he teaches German at the Elizabeth Sedgwick School for Girls by day and apprentices with the town physician, Robert Worthington, by night.

Ada, a young German innkeeper keeps secrets. Secrets often hidden in the attic of the inn she runs with her mother. Idealistic and distrustful of men, she soon finds it necessary to trust Anton.

Illuminating the contradictory forces at play in America just before the Civil War, Natural Forces examines the wild frontier of medicine of the times and the surprising allegiances forged by new immigrants, runaway slaves, and native tribes. Set in the Berkshires and based on a true story, Natural Forces is the first in a series of three books about Anton Nixdorf.