The Visit of the Royal Physician

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD It is the 1760s, the height of the Enlightenment. The young King of Denmark, Christian VII, is a half-wit. His queen, the English princess Caroline Mathilde, has fallen in love with his most trusted advisor, the court physician Struensee. Guldberg, a cold-blooded religious fanatic, is determined to annihilate the Enlightenment ideas Struensee is introducing to Denmark - whoever prevails in their bitter ideological battle will control not only the king but the nation state. Adultery, insanity, back-stabbing and blue blood...Enquist brilliantly recasts a dramatic era of Danish history, weaving a wide range of historical characters - Voltaire and Diderot, Catherine the Great and George III - into a tale of ruthless political ambition and personal betrayal.