7 h 44 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 44 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when the beliefs you inherit begin to pull against the life you want?
In Fenn Kass, Batty Weber explores growing up in the heart of Luxembourg, where family, parish and school shape a young person's world. Home, belief and ambition pull in different directions. The question is how to find a path of your own while still belonging.
Faith runs through this coming-of-age novel, set against the close communities of a small, mostly Catholic country. Belief reaches beyond private thought into shared life. Weber brings clear detail, humour and close attention to people to questions of freedom, loyalty and the right to think for yourself.
What you’ll discover
- A world close to home Enter a Luxembourg shaped by close communities, where family, parish and school frame young lives.
- Faith and its claims Consider what inherited belief means when it belongs to both the individual and the community.
- Freedom step by step Explore the pull toward independence, and the questions that come with thinking for yourself.
- The weight of belonging Sit with the tension between finding your own direction and remaining connected to home.
- A clear, observant voice Discover Weber's eye for people through a style marked by clear detail and humour.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy village life drawn with warmth and humour, friendships that last for years, and quiet rebels who trust their own judgment.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Fenn inherits a future others chose
- Childhood friendship meets expectations
- Fenn faces authority without shrinking
- A fight becomes a lasting friendship
- Duty keeps Fenn moving forward
- Grief strengthens Fenn’s chosen promise
- Useful work brings friendship and resistance
- Service matters more than mere obedience
Who’s who
- Fenn KassA strong, calm sexton's son with a mind for machines, who is expected to become a priest and must decide what he truly wants.
- Theo SchutzFenn's schoolmate and lifelong friend, a bold, ambitious engineer who dreams of great works and urges Fenn to follow his own road.
- Putty HeinenA sensitive, imaginative tailor's son who drifts toward the priesthood because his family expects it, and fears he is not made for it.
- Marjänni BraunThe teacher's dark-eyed daughter, tidy and practical, who wants order in her life and has her own hidden choices to make.
- Fritz LampertA rich, spoiled farmer's son who loves food, show and ease, and cannot bear to be told what to do.
- Director KleyerThe fiery, sincere head of the boarding school, who sees vice everywhere and wants to break the boys' wills for their souls.
- PichertThe village shoemaker, a snuff-taking bachelor with dry opinions, who treats young Fenn as an equal and stays his loyal friend.
- WöllemThe huge, quiet coachman who loves his horses, hates women's names and gives Fenn steady, loyal service.
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Fenn Kass
by Batty Weber · 1913
A sexton's son in Wiesing reads about steam engines in an attic and is sent off to become a priest.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Picture a thirteen-year-old boy in an attic at dusk. A basket of beech logs stands beside him, and he holds a book about James Watt and the steam engine so close to his eyes that he forgets the world.
Fenn Kass at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h4 h fast, 6 h slow
- Length
- 71,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1913by Batty Weber
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sexton's son carries wood and dreams
The story opens on the Three-Country Road, which runs across little Luxembourg between elms and plane trees. Wiesing sits on it, with a grand old inn and a stone cross between pollarded poplars. On feast days the procession stops at that cross, and the pastor lifts the monstrance over bowed heads.
On a September evening Fenn finishes his last chore at the rectory. He hauls beech logs to the attic for Miss Gretchen, the pastor's gentle sister. Up among the drying laundry he finds a crate of old books and reads about Denis Papin and James Watt until she calls him down. She gives him a big pear and promises to ask her brother about the book.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1913
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Weber, Batty. Fenn Kass. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/fenn-kass.
Weber, B. (2026). Fenn Kass. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/fenn-kass (Original work published 1913)
Weber, Batty. Fenn Kass. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/fenn-kass.
@book{weber2026fenn,
author = {Weber, Batty},
title = {Fenn Kass},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/fenn-kass},
note = {First published 1913}
}
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What is Fenn Kass about?
It tells of a clever sexton's son from a Luxembourg village who is pushed toward the priesthood. The novel follows his school years, his friendships, his first curacy and his struggle to decide what he truly owes to himself and others.
Who is Batty Weber and when did he write this?
Batty Weber was a Luxembourg writer who died in 1940. He wrote in the early twentieth century about the people and villages of his small homeland, and Fenn Kass is one of his best-loved novels of that world.
Who are Putty, Fritz and Marjänni?
They are Fenn's childhood friends from Wiesing. Putty is the tailor's sensitive son, Fritz the rich farmer's spoiled boy, and Marjänni the practical teacher's daughter. Each takes a different road as the story moves on.
The author
Batty Weber
1860–1940 · Luxembourgish journalist and author
Batty Weber (1860–1940) was a Luxembourgish journalist and author. He was born in Rumelange and died in Luxembourg City. He wrote the novel Fenn Kass, published in 1913, as well as plays and newspaper articles. From 1913 to 1940, he wrote the column Abreisskalender for the Luxemburger Zeitung.
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