Brimming with deceit, betrayal, and redemption, this adventurous tale of a war-ravaged Europe offers a unique blend of history and fantasy.
A thief and a nobleman, both down on their luck, cross paths on a bitter winter’s day in 1701. One is fleeing the gallows, the other, the young Christian von Tornefeld, has deserted his station in the Swedish army. Neither will reach his intended destination. Sent with a message to secure aid for von Tornefeld, the thief falls in love with his companion’s secret fiancée. He resolves to win her love for himself, and through a clever ruse, exchanges his fate for the other man’s. Risking everything to attain the woman of his dreams, he becomes the Swedish cavalier, staying one step ahead of his own demise. Later, he sacrifices everything to keep his secret past hidden from his daughter.
Austrian novelist and mathematician Leo Perutz—admired by Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Ian Fleming, and Graham Greene—creates a visionary world of barons and brigands, swashbuckling dragoons and spurned lovers, gentleman farmers and masked robbers, as well as lucky parchments, magic spells, and mystical visions in this stunning work of high adventure and literary craftsmanship.
“Written in the style of an 18th-century adventure . . . High drama and broad comedy enliven the tale, which takes a number of twists.” —Publishers Weekly
“Though Perutz died in 1957, his fiction’s unique blend of history and the fantastic place it in the vanguard of its genre. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal
