The true life story of Emilie Steffen-von Siebenthal is also the story of her village, Gstaad, from a small, poor hamlet to a world-famous health resort.

Born in 1846 into a poor family with 14 children, Emilie left her homeland as a young woman in search of a better life. After several years in Geneva and Paris, she returns to Gstaad. As a baker's wife, she becomes an important person in the village and, against her will, a key figure in the village fire that destroys half the village of Gstaad in 1898 and changes the lives of those involved forever.

Emilie's life reflects the turning point that tourism brought to Gstaad and the challenges that a strong woman had to face in a small village community at the beginning of the 20th century.

"Madame Gstaad" is a story of courage and desperation, of love and death, of poverty and a pioneering spirit, which captures the spirit of that time and brings it to life. Through Emilie's eyes, the reader experiences the decisive years of Gstaad's development and immerses himself in a bygone era.