The Royal Physician's Visit

by Per Olov Enquist

Book Overview

Winner of top literary prizes in Sweden and France, Enquist's epic of power, love, and madness in 1760s Denmark is an extraordinarily elegant and gorgeous novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743458036
• ISBN13: 9780743458030
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Washington Square Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

The Age of Enlightenment and those who opposed it.

Palace intrigue of the highest order, conducted by courtiers and officials who will do anything to achieve their goals, makes this a stimulating and thoroughly engrossing novel. The Danish court from 1768 - 1772 pulses with life as powerful personalities collide in their rush to fill the power vacuum resulting from the weakness of King Christian VII, a sensitive, half-mad 17-year-old boy, married to Caroline Mathilde, the 14-year-old sister of Britain's King George III. This is a time of great intellectual ferment as the new ideas of the Enlightenment, with their value on the individual and freedom, begin to threaten the feudal basis of the old, autocratic monarchies of Europe, and more frightening to the courtiers, their own power within their countries. Enquist brilliantly recreates the psychology of the king, a puppet who desperately wants to please the courtiers and officials and is tormented when he does not, a bright but "ravaged child," who from his earliest years was regularly flogged, ridiculed, beaten for casual conversations, forcibly separated from everyone with whom he developed attachments, shamed, and driven mad by his own courtiers. When he becomes interested in the enlightened ideas of Voltaire and Diderot and is celebrated by these philosophers on a trip around the continent, his nervous and threatened court decides he needs a physician. What they never expect is that the physician they engage, Johann Friedrich Struensee from Germany, will establish a relationship with Christian, share his enlightened ideas, and eventually become the de facto king. Bursting with dramatic scenes of Machiavellian court intrigue and the palpable fear of the Enlightenment, the novel is also filled with powerfully moving scenes of psychological abuse, tenderness, passion, love, and genuine sadness. Though the reader knows from the opening pages (and from the historical record) what the outcome of the court struggle will be, Enquist manages to endow it with an immediacy and tension which totally engage the reader. By focusing on the court, rather than on the populace, he makes the Enlightenment and the revolutions it inspires throughout Europe come alive from a new perspective, and in creating this novel based on history, he brings to life both the sad and abused child-king Christian and Struensee, the enlightened but politically naïve mentor who paid the ultimate price. A beautifully realized novel! Mary Whipple

SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF DENMARK...

Having read "Lost Queen" by Norah Lofts, which book was a work of historical fiction that covered much of the same story told by this author, there could not be two books more different, though both are riveting. The major difference is in the writing style. The book by Ms. Lofts is superlative and tells an interesting, intriguing, though somewhat superficial story about the love triangle consisting of the mad king of Denmark, Christian VII, his wife, Queen Caroline Mathilde, and the royal physician, Johann Struensee. This author, on the other hand, rips the reader's guts out with its angst filled, staccato telling of the same story. It is a more literary book than that of Ms. Lofts and compelling in its own way, a beautifully written work of historical fiction that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very end. It, too, tells the story of Princess Caroline Mathilde of England, sister to King George III. At the age of fifteen she was wed to young King Christian VII, who eventually became known as the mad king of Denmark. Temperamental, high strung, and given to strange outbursts, his predilection for odd behavior was known early on, but despite this the two kingdoms would still see these two wed, as the unification of England and Denmark was more important than individual happiness. King Christian VII was a truly pitiable figure who had survived a childhood fueled by rank cruelty and was easy prey for the sycophants of the Danish court. He developed a peculiar aversion to his wife and, consequently, had conjugal relations with her only once, which propitiously resulted in the birth of a son nine months later. Alone in a foreign country, whose language she was only beginning to learn, and estranged from a King surrounded by sycophants, the young queen gravitated to the one person who treated her as a person in her own right, the King's physician, Johann Struensee. An advocate of the philosophy of Enlightenment that was overtaking Europe, the idealistic Struensee had many ideas that were introduced as reforms in Denmark, through his influence with the King, who by now was easily led, since his madness left a void in leadership that Struensee was all to happy to fill. These reforms were to make many enemies for him, as they upset the established feudal system that still existed in eighteenth century Denmark. As he gained power through his influence, resentment against him grew within those circles that had formerly been close to the King. Unaware of the growing animosity against him and lacking political canniness, Struensee and the Queen became close intimates, bound by shared ideas and interests. Struensee's relationship with the Queen, who was lonely and starved for affection, eventually transgressed the bounds set by propriety. Now lovers in fact, their relationship became grist for the rumor mill. She even gave birth to a daughter who the King acknowledged as his own but who was actually Stuensee's. As gossip and innuendo

SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF DENMARK...

Having read "Lost Queen" by Norah Lofts, which book was a work of historical fiction that covered much of the same story told by this author, there could not be two books more different, though both are riveting. The major difference is in the writing style. The book by Ms. Lofts is superlative and tells an interesting, intriguing, though somewhat superficial story about the love triangle consisting of the mad king of Denmark, Christian VII, his wife, Queen Caroline Mathilde, and the royal physician, Johann Struensee. This author, on the other hand, rips the reader's guts out with its angst filled, staccato telling of the same story. It is a more literary book than that of Ms. Lofts and compelling in its own way, a beautifully written work of historical fiction that will keep the reader riveted to its pages until the very end.It, too, tells the story of Princess Caroline Mathilde of England, sister to King George III. At the age of fifteen she was wed to young King Christian VII, who eventually became known as the mad king of Denmark. Temperamental, high strung, and given to strange outbursts, his predilection for odd behavior was known early on, but despite this the two kingdoms would still see these two wed, as the unification of England and Denmark was more important than individual happiness. King Christian VII was a truly pitiable figure who had survived a childhood fueled by rank cruelty and was easy prey for the sycophants of the Danish court. He developed a peculiar aversion to his wife and, consequently, had conjugal relations with her only once, which propitiously resulted in the birth of a son nine months later. Alone in a foreign country, whose language she was only beginning to learn, and estranged from a King surrounded by sycophants, the young queen gravitated to the one person who treated her as a person in her own right, the King's physician, Johann Struensee.An advocate of the philosophy of Enlightenment that was overtaking Europe, the idealistic Struensee had many ideas that were introduced as reforms in Denmark, through his influence with the King, who by now was easily led, since his madness left a void in leadership that Struensee was all to happy to fill. These reforms were to make many enemies for him, as they upset the established feudal system that still existed in eighteenth century Denmark. As he gained power through his influence, resentment against him grew within those circles that had formerly been close to the King. Unaware of the growing animosity against him and lacking political canniness, Struensee and the Queen became close intimates, bound by shared ideas and interests.Struensee's relationship with the Queen, who was lonely and starved for affection, eventually transgressed the bounds set by propriety. Now lovers in fact, their relationship became grist for the rumor mill. She even gave birth to a daughter who the King acknowledged as his own but who was actually Stuensee's. As gossip and innue

Superb ....a reader from Denmark

I must completely disagree with my fellow Danish reader.This book is a perfect example of pure and good writing and it deserves all the praise and prizes it has won.It is about the fear of Enlightenment and how the Danish court deals with this fear.I enjoyed the writing so much and have looked for more of his books, as this was my first one.It is historic fiction written like no other of that genre.Do yourself a favor and buy this fantastic book and judge for yourself.

Astonishing.

Palace intrigue of the highest order, conducted by courtiers and officials who will do anything to achieve their goals, makes this one of the most stimulating and thoroughly engrossing novels of the year. The Danish court from 1768 - 1772 pulses with life as powerful personalities collide in their rush to fill the power vacuum resulting from the weakness of King Christian VII, a sensitive, half-mad 17-year-old boy, married to Caroline Mathilde, the 14-year-old sister of Britain's King George III. This is a time of great intellectual ferment as the new ideas of the Enlightenment, with their value on the individual and freedom, begin to threaten the feudal basis of the old, autocratic monarchies of Europe, and more frightening to the courtiers, their own power within their countries. Enquist brilliantly recreates the psychology of the king, a puppet who desperately wants to please the courtiers and officials and is tormented when he does not, a bright but "ravaged child," who from his earliest years was regularly flogged, ridiculed, beaten for casual conversations, forcibly separated from everyone with whom he developed attachments, shamed, and driven mad by his own courtiers. When he becomes interested in the enlightened ideas of Voltaire and Diderot and is celebrated by these philosophers on a trip around the continent, his nervous and threatened court decides he needs a physician. What they never expect is that the physician they engage, Johann Friedrich Struensee from Germany, will establish a relationship with Christian, share his enlightened ideas, and eventually become the de facto king. Bursting with dramatic scenes of Machiavellian court intrigue and fear of the Enlightenment, and with powerfully moving scenes of psychological abuse, tenderness, passion, love, and genuine sadness, this novel is stunning! Though the reader knows from the opening pages what the outcome of the court struggle will be, Enquist manages to endow it with an immediacy and tension which totally engage the reader. By focusing on the court, rather than on the populace, he makes the Enlightenment and the revolutions it inspires throughout Europe come alive from a new perspective, and in creating this novel based on history, he brings to life both the sad and abused child-king Christian and Struensee, the enlightened but politically naïve mentor who paid the ultimate price. A beautifully realized novel! Mary Whipple