The Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary novel by Wolfgang von Johann Goethe, originally published in 1774. In a series of letters to a friend, Werther recounts his time in the simple village of Walheim and the peasants he befriends there. He falls in love with Charlotte, but is tortured by his emotions as she is soon to be married and cannot return his love. The novel is celebrated as an early example of Romantic literature and its influence on later writings sustains its continued importance.