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Karen Engelmann

Author of The Stockholm Octavo

4+ Works 564 Members 35 Reviews

About the Author

Image credit: Audrey Bernstein

Works by Karen Engelmann

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Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1954-09-08
Gender
female
Nationality
USA

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Reviews

This book is too long
 
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Sunandsand | 34 other reviews | Apr 30, 2022 |
While I was immediately sucked into this book and finished it in two days, I am having great difficulty figuring out why. The main character is a bit of a non-entity, with no real distinctive personality (except perhaps a tendency towards excess) but, like the book, he's somehow endearing. The pacing was perfect, with a constant steady pace and no extraneous historical sidebars, which are often the hallmark of historical fiction and invariably disturb the narrative flow. Card playing and gambling, the art of hand fans and Sweden's political upheavals merge seamlessly with the plot, miraculously and don't feel like tacked-on details to add historical accuracy.

Highly recommended, especially to those who think they don't like historical fiction.
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fionaanne | 34 other reviews | Nov 11, 2021 |
Everything I love about a book: interesting characters, court intrigue, historical details about small objects...plus a new city to explore!
 
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ladyars | 34 other reviews | Jan 4, 2021 |
“Science and magic are always close, Mr. Larsson, one chasing the other. Last year's evil is now a property of physics. The heavens that were once the realm of gods are revealed as planets and stars, moving in precise mathematical orbits. And yet people perform feats that cannot be explained: heal from deadly contagion, lift fallen trees off their comrades in battle, see visions that portent to future, die and rise again. We are wise to keep an open mind to both.”

This was a fascinating read. I'll admit to getting a rather slow start on it. Mainly because I have next to no knowledge of the history of the Swedish monarchy and even less knowledge of card readings. I spent a little bit of time with Google to familiarize myself with a few things. That turned into a rabbit hole because that's usually how that works.

For anyone interested in historical fiction without all the sleeping around scandals, I highly recommend this book. Yes there is a romantic element to it but it is by no means the star of the show. A slight knowledge of the Swedish revolution occurring during the reign of Gustav III is helpful but by no means necessary. I thought my knowledge of the French Revolution was quite vast. This book proved I still have things to learn. I know about Count von Fersen fought to save the French royal family. I had no idea that Sweden and Gustav were so tied to the French and their fate.
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SKNF | 34 other reviews | Jul 27, 2020 |

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Statistics

Works
4
Also by
1
Members
564
Popularity
#44,322
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
35
ISBNs
27
Languages
8

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