The Stockholm Octavo

Reviews

“Delicious…The essence of witty intelligence. Readers will delight [in] every element in this Swedish weave, from the brutal winter weather to the unfurling of a lady’s fan. The plot is an urgent one, and the characters mysterious, appealing, and memorable…I felt a real kinship with author Karen Engelmann.”

“If you like novels that work on many levels at once, read this stunning tessellation of a book, where fortune is the flip side of intrigue and where history is the flip side of chance.”

“A delicious page-turner that brings eighteenth-century Stockholm to vivid life, complete with scandal, conspiracy, mystery, and a hint of magic. Karen Engelmann’s spectacular debut drew me in…A captivating tale, beautifully told.”

“A juicy page-turner…Engelmann’s intellectually playful take on the mathematics of love and power proves irresistible.”

“Deliciously sly…As we fan through the pages, we recognize the usual narrative codes, but we can’t crack them any faster than Larsson can solve the puzzle of his destiny. The result is an irresistible cipher between two covers—an atmospheric tale of many rogues and a few innocents gambling on politics and romance in the cold, cruel north.”       

“A dizzying story of political intrigue and forbidden romance, all played out in an array of lost arts, from the reading of cards to the language of ladies’ fans to the healing power of plants. Each has its own delicious vocabulary and in Engelmann’s debut, each word is savored.”

“This is a swirling, swooping fanfare of a tale, with an immense cast and an exhilaratingly sustained finale.”

“Karen Engelmann’s The Stockholm Octavo is a bonbon box filled with treats designed to appeal to lovers of literary historical thrillers.”

“The fascination of the cards' unfolding gives way to even greater narrative magic, when Emil must wield all his intelligence and resources to identify the actual persons who embody the eight figures of his Octavo. With flawless instinct, Engelmann conflates mystery and romance.”

“Neatly mixing revolutionary politics with the erotic tension and cutthroat rivalry of the female conspirators…Engelmann has crafted a magnificent, suspenseful story set against the vibrant society of Sweden’s zenith, with a cast of colorful characters balanced at a crux of history.”

“Cartomancy is divination using regular playing cards in a game called the Octavo. This and the language and geometry of fans, as well as several other arcane practices, form the intriguing premise of Karen Englemann’s engrossing debut novel. Mrs. Sparrow, mistress of a gaming establishment in late-eighteenth-century Sweden, predicts a golden future for minor customs official Emil Larsson. Simon Vance does everything right as Emil meets the human embodiments of the eight cards that are destined to assist him. With characters as diverse as King Gustav, a French fan maker, and the scheming Uzanne, Vance never misses a step. His descriptions of several luscious young women, and of one particular fan thought to contain magical powers, are a marvel of nuance and subtlety. A delicious pairing of narrator and material.”

“Fantastic…This rollicking adventure story reads at times like a fairy tale, with good guys and bad guys and obstacles to be recognized and overcome. It’s all quite fun. As either historical novel or adventure story, this clever first novel should appeal to a broad range of readers.”

“Mysterious, suspenseful, and, at times, action packed.”

“Elegant and multifaceted, Engelmann’s debut explores love and connection in late–eighteenth-century Sweden and delivers an unusual, richly imagined read…The setup is wonderfully engrossingthis is stylish work by an author of real promise.”

“The Stockholm Octavo, Karen Engelmann’s impressive debut, is as marvelously and intricately constructed as the mysterious form of divination it’s named for. A true pleasure from beginning to satisfying end.”

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