Rate this book

Stockholm Octavo (2012)

by Karen Engelmann(Favorite Author)

3.41 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Pantagruel

review 1: When I go on holidays, I like to bring back some books that are set in the city/ country I´ve visited. On my trip to Stockholm, I came across this book – “The Stockholm Octavo” – and it was really great to learn more about Swedish History, especially after visiting the places which are referred in the story.The plot starts in 1791, a very tumultuous time in Sweden. Society is divided between “Patriots”, nobles who are against the king´s attempts to reduce their privileges, and “Royalists”, that support King Gustav III. Among the “Patriots” is the Baroness Uzanne, a beautiful defender of the aristocracy that blames Gustav for her husband´s death and wants to put his brother, Duke Karl, on the throne. Mrs. Sparrow, a clairvoyant and good friend of the ... moreking, feels that rebellion is near while placing the cards for her “Octavo” and asks her friend Emil Larsson, a customs officer, to help her protect the king. Emil just wants to find a good wife and be promoted at work, but when Mrs. Sparrow says that his future is strongly linked to the King´s, he finds a way to enter the Baroness Uzanne´s circle of acquaintances to uncover the plot… before it is too late.The beginning of the book was a bit slow for me, because there was a lot of cartomancy, visions and other esoteric mumbo-jumbo, which is not to my taste. But when Baroness Uzanne´s scheme to overthrow the king starts to unravel, the plot gets more interesting and I found myself glued to the pages, anxious to know if she would succeed, or not. There are many interesting characters – fan makers, an apothecary, a calligrapher – who are lured into the rebellious scheme, but you´re never quite sure if their heart is with the cause or if they have their own goals to achieve and this constant guessing also made the story very appealing. The descriptions of eighteenth century Stockholm are very vivid and I have to say that I learned a lot about the “language of fans” and how women used them to communicate without being detected. A very good lesson!
review 2: Interesting story of the conspiracy and plotting subsequent to the assassination of Swedish King Gustav. The protagonist is a gambler who learns of his destiny through a Swedish tarot card game, and the fun of the book is the gradual revealing of the identities of the people who correspond to the cards of the "octavo." To me, it lost a little steam at the end - but I liked it. I'd have given it a 3.5 if I could have. less

Download links for: Stockholm octavo

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