Description

In the original "Ruritanian romance" duology by Anthony Hope (The Prisoner of Zenda - 1894, Rupert of Hentzau - 1898), struggles for power drive a plot laced with dark conspiracies, wild coincidences, daring exploits and a trail of corpses strewn across a central European monarchy we never knew existed. Swashbuckling men of Ruritania, heroes and villains, thrust themselves into deadly peril while asserting their aims with the aid of such handy implements as rapiers, daggers, ropes, chains and pistols. Against this backdrop of testosterone-fueled mayhem, hearts pine for love frustrated by requirements of honor and propriety. The elegant ladies so desired are consigned to a stoic helplessness allowing only for the weeping of tears, the wringing of hands, the writing of letters, long hours of anxious waiting, prayer, and the occasional swoon.

With the revelation of this previously hidden manuscript by Hilda Marie von Eisen, we gain a new opportunity to view Hope's Ruritania from a feminine perspective. In an account contemporaneous with the well-known memoirs of Rudolf Rassendyll and Fritz von Tarlenheim, we learn of additional dark intrigues, never before revealed, carried out during the short reign of King Rudolf V. We also find some of the women and men of Ruritania to have been quite different than those we've been introduced to before.