A tale of political intrigue and ethereal romance in sixteenth century Prague by an Austrian author who "spins magic realism worthy of Gabriel García Márquez" (The Atlanta Journal and Constitution).Rudolf II, king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, is known to be the greatest art patron in the world. He is also known to be paranoid, spendthrift, and wayward. In sixteenth-century Prague, seat of Christendom, he rules without the ongoing assistance of the Jewish financier Mordechai Meisl.In the ghetto, the Great Rabbi and mystic seer guides his people in the uneasy cohabitation of Jew and Christian. Meanwhile, under Rudolph's imprimatur, Meisl becomes fabulously wealthy with a hand in transactions across Europe. But his beautiful wife, Esther, also forms a unique bond with Rudolf II . . .By night under the stone bridge, she and the emperor entwine in their dreams under the guise of a white rosemary bush...

zlib/Fiction/World Fiction/Leo Perutz/By Night Under the Stone Bridge_11969768.azw3

Perutz, Leo

Arcade Publishing

United States, United States of America

Reprint, 2013

Jun 04, 2013

<p><b>This enchanting novel—called “arguably Perutz’s masterpiece” by the Boston Globe</b>—depicts a world where dreams, legend, and history merge.</p>
<p>Rudolf II, king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, is paranoid, spendthrift, and wayward. In sixteenth-century Prague, seat of Christendom, he rules over an empty treasury and a court of parasites and schemers. Meanwhile in the ghetto, the Great Rabbi, mystic and seer, guides his people in the uneasy cohabitation of Jew and Christian, while the fabulously wealthy financier Mordechai Meisl has a hand in transactions across Europe and is reputed to be sustaining the treasury. His beautiful wife, Esther, forms a link of a different sort between the castle and the ghetto: by night under the stone bridge, she and the emperor entwine in their dreams under the guise of a white rosemary bush and a red rose. Only by severing the two plants can the Great Rabbi break the spell of forbidden love and deliver the city from the wrath of God. Perutz brings Old Prague to life with a cast of characters ranging from alchemists to the angel Asael, and including the likes of Johannes Kepler and the outlaw prince Wallenstein.</p>

Rudolf II, king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, is paranoid, spendthrift, and wayward. This title brings Old Prague to life with a cast of characters ranging from alchemists to the angel Assel, and including the likes of Johannes Kepler and the outlaw prince Wallenstein.

2021-04-09