The idea of the book is better than the execution. As always I liked the Tarot card-like symbolism as well as the mentions of the French revolution. The main character Emil Larsson seems shallow at first, but he becomes more sympathetic and his earnestness shines through as the story progresses. The...
bookshelves: paper-read, historical-fiction, sweden, gambling, bedside, autumn-2013, stockholm, paris, spies, published-2012, amusing, france, summer-2013 Recommended to ☯Bettie☯ by: Jeanette (jema) Read from August 13 to September 07, 2013 Dedication: For ErikFrench/Swedish timelines 1770-1792O...
Karen Engelmann’s The Stockholm Octavo was one of those books I pulled off a Barnes & Noble shelf at random because the cover art and the title caught my eye. The description was similarly intriguing and because I tend to have a good instinct about books, I bought it. Then it sat on my shelf for t...
Dedication: For ErikFrench/Swedish timelines 1770-1792Opening:Arte et Marte(Art and War); Inscription over the entrance to Riddarhuset - The House of Nobles - in StockholmChapter One: Stockholm 1789Stockholm is called the Venice of the North, and with good reason. Travellers claim that it is just a...
Fabulous historical fiction taking place in Sweden in the late 1700s (around the time of the French Revolution). Though I thought I could see where the story was going very early on (& I was worried it might not be too engrossing if I could already see big plot points), I was pleasantly surprised as...
It’s impossible to dislike a novel that has the following sentence – “The Uzanne and Cassiopeia fit together like lovers on a too small settee, knowing just how to move for maximum effect” (35). It’s all the better because one of the characters above is a fan. This is a book about fans, cards, Stoc...
The story began with a strong start, and I was really interested to see where the premise would go. Unfortunately, it started to drag after about 40 pages or so, and it just kept getting more and more drawn out. The perspective kept changing, and the characters didn't seem to develop or feel real to...
Englemann's novel reminded me of a much more accessible Tale of Two Cities, albeit it one about Sweden and the plot to assassinate Gustav III. The French Revolution is closely intertwined with this king’s notions of royalty, preserving his right to rule (and that of other sovereigns), yet retaining ...
Rating: 4* of five The Book Description: Life is close to perfect for Emil Larsson, a self-satisfied bureaucrat in the Office of Customs and Excise in 1791 Stockholm. He is a true man of the Town—a drinker, card player, and contented bachelor—until one evening when Mrs. Sofia Sparrow, a fortune-tel...
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