The Stockholm Octavo - Softcover

Engelmann, Karen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061995355 ISBN 13: 9780061995354

Publisher: Ecco Press, 2013

Synopsis

One man's fortune holds the key to a nation's fate in this sensational debut novel set in 18th-century Sweden.

The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann transports readers to a colorful Scandinavian world of intrigue and magic in a dazzling golden age of high art, music, and opulent fashion.

A masterwork of historical fiction in the vein of Patrick Suskind's classic novel, Perfume, Karen Engelmann's The Stockholm Octavo is mysterious and romantic--as magical and enthralling as The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern--and features a brilliant and unforgettable cast of extraordinary characters.

About this title

Review:

"Layered, absorbing, and rife with interesting fictional characters and genuine historical detail, Engelmann's work kept me in suspense from this first page to the last."--Real Simple

"Karen Engelmann's absorbing debut doesn't traffic in mystery so much as Mystery with a capital "m." . . . . As she deftly shuffles characters, Engelmann's hand moves faster than a reader's eye in a thoroughly engaging story of intrigue and gamesmanship."--Christian Science Monitor

"Delicious...the essence of witty intelligence. Readers will delight [in] every element in this Swedish weave, from the brutal winter weather to the unfurling of a lady's fan. The plot is an urgent one, and the characters mysterious, appealing, and memorable....I felt a real kinship with author Karen Engelmann."--Sena Jeter Naslund, New York Times bestselling author of Ahab's Wife and Abundance: A Novel of Maire Antoinette

"If you like novels that work on many levels at once, read this stunning tessellation of a book, where fortune is the flip side of intrigue and where history is the flip side of chance."--Charlotte Rogan, bestselling author of The Lifeboat

"A delicious page-turner that brings 18th century Stockholm to vivid life, complete with scandal, conspiracy, mystery, and a hint of magic. Karen Engelmann's spectacular debut drew me in....A captivating tale, beautifully told."--Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters

"Neatly mixing revolutionary politics with the erotic tension and cutthroat rivalry of the female conspirators...Engelmann has crafted a magnificent, suspenseful story set against the vibrant society of Sweden's zenith, with a cast of colorful characters balanced at a crux of history."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Fantastic . . . This rollicking adventure story reads at times like a fairy tale, with Good Guys and Bad Guys and obstacles to be recognized and overcome. It's all quite fun. As either historical novel or adventure story, this clever first novel should appeal to a broad range of readers.--Library Journal (starred review)

"A juicy page-turner...Engelmann's intellectually playful take on the mathematics of love and power proves irresistible."--O magazine

"The Stockholm Octavo, Karen Engelmann's impressive debut, is as marvelously and intricately constructed as the mysterious form of divination it's named for. A true pleasure from beginning to satisfying end."--Shelf Awareness

"Mysterious, suspenseful, and, at times, action-packed."--Booklist (starred review)

Book Description:

A dazzling debut, full of opulent period detail, brilliantly interweaving history, romance and intrigue, in which one man's fortune in the form of The Octavo holds the key to a nation's precarious fate. As dramatic as opera, as vivid as a painting, THE STOCKHOLM OCTAVO brings a real and imagined history to astonishing life.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0061995355
• ISBN 13: 9780061995354
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432