''The Emperor's Candlesticks'' is an 1899

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

Baroness Orczy Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: ''Emma Magdalena Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci'') (; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends ...

. Written soon after the birth of her son John, it was her first book as an author rather than translator and was a commercial failure. As in

the Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

, the theme is international intrigue, but this time the setting is pre-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Europe and Russia rather than Revolutionary France. Baroness Orczy first submitted "The Emperor's Candlesticks" for publication in a magazine, but it was rejected as "too long for a short story and too short for a novel".

Plot introduction

When a group of Russian anarchists kidnap a Russian prince in Vienna there are repercussions. On learning that the Cardinal d'Orsay has agreed to convey some hollow candlesticks from the Emperor to the Princess Marionoff in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, two spies both see the possibility of using them to convey messages safely into Russia.Read the Write Book website, ''The Emperor's Candlesticks - Baroness Orczy''
/ref> One is an eager young idealist involved in the plot against the prince, the other is Madame Demidoff, a beautiful agent of the Tsar. When the candlesticks go missing at the border, the two engage in a race to get them back, both realizing that their very lives could depend on the retrieval.

Adaptations

Two film adaptations were made: * '' The Emperor's Candlesticks'' (''Die Leuchter des Kaisers''), a 1936 Austrian production by

Karl Hartl Karl Hartl (10 May 1899 – 29 August 1978) was an Austrians, Austrian film film director, director. Life Born in Vienna, Hartl began his film career at the Austrian Sascha-Film company of Alexander Kolowrat and from 1919 was assistant to the H ...

, starring Sybille Schmitz and Karl Ludwig Diehl. * '' The Emperor's Candlesticks'', in 1937, starring

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

and

Luise Rainer Luise Rainer ( , ; 12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German-born film actress. She was the first thespian to win multiple Academy Awards, and the first to win back-to-back; at the time of her death, thirteen days shy of her 105th birt ...

References

External links

* * 1899 British novels Novels by Baroness Orczy Historical novels British novels adapted into films Novels set in the Russian Empire 1899 debut novels 1899 Hungarian novels {{1890s-adventure-novel-stub