In the Blue Pike

by Georg Ebers

Nineteenth century novel from the German Egyptologist and novelist who discovered the Egyptian medical papyrus at Luxor. Ebers early conceived the idea of popularizing Egyptian lore by means of historical romances. His first novel, An Egyptian Princess was published in 1864 and obtained great success. His subsequent works of the same kind Uarda (1877), Homo sum (1878) - of which the scene is laid in Egypt at the time of Hadrian - Serapis (1885) and Cleopatra (1894), were also well received, and did much to make the public familiar with the discoveries of Egyptologists. Ebers also turned his attention to other fields of historical fiction-especially the 16th century (The Burgomaster's Wife, 1882) without, however, attaining the success of his Egyptian novels.

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1896

About the author

German Egyptologist and novelist Georg Moritz Ebers discovered the Egyptian medical papyrus, circa 1550 BC, named Ebers papyrus, at Luxor (Thebes) in the winter of 1873/74.

Ebers early conceived the idea of popularizing Egyptian lore by means of historical romances. Eine ägyptische Königstochter was published in 1864 and obtained great success. His subsequent works of the same kind—Uarda (1877), Homo sum (1878), Die Schwestern (1880), Der Kaiser (1881), of which the scene is laid in Egypt at the time of Hadrian, Serapis (1885), Die Nilbraut (1887), and Kleopatra (1894), were also well received, and did much to make the public familiar with the discoveries of Egyptologists. Ebers also turned his attention to other fields of historical fiction—especially the 16th century (Die Frau Bürgermeisterin, 1882; Die Gred, 1887)—without, however, attaining the success of his Egyptian novels.

Reviews

[Heather Oakman]

This book was set in the late 1400's in Germany. It begins with a chance meeting of various groups of people at an inn called the Blue Pike. Then the narrative goes back to follow the story of a tightrope walker (called a rope dancer in the book) who falls in love with a gentleman, when she sees him go into a church to marry his bride. The story is amazingly captivating at points. And the characters take a few unexpected turns along the way. Eventually she becomes a vagabond and they meet again at the Blue Pike.

I really enjoyed how the main character evolves. She had such a mixture of pride and love, sensibility and superstition, selfishness and self-sacrifice. The man she falls in love with was a rather one-dimensional character. He epitomized all that was good. It was different to read a story where the man was the idealized love interest instead of the other way around.