Little Lars loves to get applause and be kissed by the actresses. And he gets almost more kisses and applause than he can take. As early as six years old, he has a role in Gustaf III’s opera. But when he first catches the attention of the King, littl ...
Little Lars loves to get applause and be kissed by the actresses. And he gets almost more kisses and applause than he can take. As early as six years old, he has a role in Gustaf III’s opera. But when he first catches the attention of the King, little does he realize what it can mean to be the monarch’s favourite. He came very close to the King, and that marked his life in many ways. In the second part of Agneta Pleijel’s family chronicle – which started with Drottningens chirurg – we get to meet actor Lars Hjortsberg (1772–1843). In the novel, he talks about his life: as Gustav III’s garcon bleu or commoner page, as the King’s librarian at Haga summer palace outside Stockholm and in the war against Russia, and as the person who read to the King as he lay dying after being shot at the masquerade ball at the opera. Lars Hjortsberg ended up the uncrowned king of the theatre in Sweden. He was a brilliant comedy actor, adored by his public.
In the first novel we got to meet surgeon Herman Schützer and became familiar with the growth of the profession of surgery, but this time it is about his younger relative Lars and the theatre. Is acting a profession or a way of life? Can you disguise yourself in order to become yourself? Kungens komediant is as much an historical novel as it is a contemporary tale. A tale of truth, power games, life and love.
“That was the first time the thought occurred to me that the lives of all of us are but a part of one big spectacle, directed from inside the King’s head. It seemed to me that everybody, poor as well as rich, nobleman as well as commoner, was part of a performance being played inside his Majesty’s head. A king, especially one with such a talent for the theatre, naturally wanted to cast the roles himself.”
Rights sold to:
Gyldendal, Denmark
De Geus, the Netherlands
Press voices:
“Agneta Pleijel’s ability to produce delightful and tasty prose is hard to better. And the good taste is not just formal, but ethical too. She doesn’t expose her characters just anyhow – regardless of whether they are authentic or imaginary, she shows solidarity with them and makes sure that she doesn’t let us get too close.” Göteborgs-Posten
“There are a lot of things in this novel that deserve to be called magnificent. The thorough yet free way she works with details typical of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries /.../ but I would particularly like to emphasize the insightful descriptions of the dynamics of power, between a king and his people, and between different individuals.” Aftonbladet
“Agneta Pleijel is one of most skilled storytellers in Swedish literature and her ability – as a prose artist – to bring to life an entire epoch with sounds, light, voices, movements and moods and embrace the reader, is nothing less than brilliant.” Upsala Nya Tidning
“It is rare for intelligent observations to be formulated about the art of the theatre. ‘Opera is enchantment’ as King Gustav III exhorts us in the text. and Pleijel’s own prose is just as enchanting when she writes about this fluid form of artistry, without at the same time forgetting the glaring difference between the amusements of the Court and the misery of the people, between power and powerlessness, between bread and theatre.” Södermanlands Nyheter
“This is a novel which will take the reader’s breath away with all its artistry and skill...” Sundsvalls Tidning