Fair Maid of Bohemia FROM THE PUBLISHER
A plague is terrorizing Elizabethan England, and its theaters are empty for fear of contagion. Just as it seems that Lord Westfield's Men must disband, they receive an invitation to perform at the Imperial Court in Prague - an event they believe will be their crowning achievement. The invitation is from the fairest maid of Bohemia and great-niece of Rudolph II, the alluring Sophia Magdalena. In confidence, their patron Lord Westfield has given Nicholas Bracewell secret documents to deliver to an English doctor in Rudolph's court, Talbot Royden. While the troupe is en route to Prague, the brutal murder of an actor during their first performance turns their journey into a nightmare, especially when Bracewell realizes that he himself was the intended victim. Arriving in Prague, after having been trailed through Europe by mysterious pursuers, the troupe discovers that the eccentric court of Rudolph II keeps its own perilous secrets, and that instead of being a revered guest of the Court, the doctor Talbot Royden is languishing in a castle dungeon. As the debut of their play dedicated to Sophia Magdalena nears, Nicholas Bracewell needs all his skills to rescue the company from the whirlpool of deceit and danger into which they have plunged.
FROM THE CRITICS
Kirkus Reviews
Another angst-filled, detail-loaded chapter (the ninth) in the chronicles of Lord Westfield's Men, an Elizabethan Age acting company whose usual venue is the yard of the Queen's Head Inn (The Laughing Hangman, 1996, etc.). This time, a performance viewed by beautiful young visiting Princess Sophia Magdalen results in an invitation to perform at the court of Emperor Rudolph of Bohemia. Since the plague is ravaging London, Nicholas Bracewell, the company's masterful manager, decides to accept, using an abbreviated troupe headed by blazing lead actor Lawrence Firethorn and including versatile newcomer Adrian Smallwood, a younger version of Nicholas. For part of the journey, the manager will have the company of Anne Hendrick, his landlady and true love, as she's to visit her late husband's dying father in Holland. Before leaving, Nicholas accepts a packet of documents and a tiny box, both to be delivered to famed astrologer-scientist Talbot Royden at the Bohemian Royal Court. The harrowing sea voyage to the Dutch port of Flushing ends in tragedy, though, when Adrian is found stabbed to death in a killing that Nicholas is certain was meant to be his. Then it's overland to Cologne and Frankfurt, where Anne rejoins them, and finally to Prague, where, it turns out, the troupe's plays are to be part of Princess Sophia's wedding celebration, and where Nicholas discovers that Talbot Royden has been imprisoned by an unhinged Emperor Rudolph. There's more, much more, before a kidnapped Anne is rescued and a deadly morass of religious intrigues and spying, complete with codes, is uncovered.
A vastly overpopulated and overplotted story that still manages to provide some humor and suspense along with a richly colorful history lesson.
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