The Puppet Crown: written by Harold and 50 similar items

The story is reminiscent of Stevenson's "Prince Otto" in a certain airy persiflage and genial cynicism and in the comic opera quality of the little Continental kingdom that is the scene of its remarkable plot; it strongly suggests Anthony Hope's "The Prisoner of Zenda" in the kidnapping of certain important characters and in the portraiture of the youthful hero who is an American. But these resemblances do not detract from its originality; for original it is in plot, in characters, and in style. Something there is of the same power of revealing the loneliness the heartache and the unsatisfied longings of royalty that throbs in Daudet's "Kings in Exile." The whole plot turns on the misery of a King who has sold his birthright for a crown that is only a symbol of his own impotency. He is a puppet in the hands of a confederation of great powers who permit him to rule because he is an idealist and a dreamer, and, they know, will finally allow the kingdom to fall into their hands as a protectorate. This was the #7 best seller for 1901. A palace intrigue romance novel. This story takes place in a fictional kingdom within the Austrian empire prior to WWI. Interestingly the plot is similar to the events leading up to WW1. There are two romances in the novel, the first being an American who gets caught up in the cogs of a conspiracy to overthrow a king. He falls in love with the king's daughter knowing that it is destined to be an unrequited love. In the end he professes his love and she hers before he dies in her arms. The other is a ruthless duchess who will stop at nothing to seize the king's failing kingdom. That includes manipulating the love of an Englishmen that can save the kingdom from bankruptcy. He loves her unconditionally, however, she resists any feelings she may have for him. In the end she is humiliated and loses her power grab but gains a lover.