Customer Reviews

The Emperor's Candlesticks

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Emperor's Candlesticks was the first book by Baroness Orczy. Written after the birth of her son, it was not a commercial success. It would not receive any attention until after the success of her most famous book, The Scarlet Pimpernel.

In The Emperor's Candlesticks you can see many of the hallmarks of the historical melodrama that she would cultivate in her later books.

When a group of Russian anarchists kidnap a Russian prince in Vienna, a web of mystery is set into motion. When the Cardinal d'Orsay agrees to convey some hollow candlesticks from the Emperor to the Princess Marionoff in Petersburg, two spies both see the possibility of using them to convey messages safely into Russia. One is an eager young idealist involved in the plot against the prince, the other is Madame Demidoff-- a beautiful agent of the Tsar. When the candlesticks go missing at the border, the two engage in a race to get them back, both realizing that their very lives could depend on the retrieval.

Unfortunately, the book is quite uneven in places. Orczy was obviously still learning the trade. It tends to try to fit too much action into some sections and drag in others. Still, it is an interesting little work of historical fiction, and worth reading-- particularly if you are either a fan of Orczy or of the genre. Three and a half stars.