The Imaginary Emperor: A tale of San Francisco

by Steve Bartholomew

Sometimes the only path to sanity is through madness. San Francisco, 1859. Joshua Norton, desperate to survive, sees madness overtaking America. He has lost his fortune and believes the country is losing its mind. In a flash of insight, he finds the answer to both problems. He will become Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. He will issue proclamations to make things right. Now imagine young Marina. She wants only to sing. Because she allows Joshua into her theater she allows him into her life. Soon she is caught up into the madness of Civil War, a conflict making no sense. In a world turned upside down, the insanity of Emperor Norton becomes her only anchor to Reason. And in defiance of death, there is new life. Read the book and travel to a time past, which haunts us yet today.

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2018

About the author

The author was born a long time ago. He spent three years in the US Army where he learned a lot of vital skills, such as how to use a soldering iron and screwdriver, as well as how to make the bed, mop the floor, and wash dishes. He grew up and spent most of his life in San Francisco. After obtaining a useless liberal arts degree, he became a social worker and did more than 20 years in the mean streets of New York City, San Francisco, and rural California.

He is now devoted to writing books, which he should have been doing in the first place. He has written some science fiction and fantasy, but is now mainly interested in tales of the Old West. Previous publications include The Terrorist Plot at Gopherville, Gold, A Tale of the California Gold Rush, Journey to Rhyolite and Chapel Perilous.

Reviews

[Teresa A. Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Happy Accident

As I was trolling the Kindle section I came across this book about an Emperor in the old west. I had heard of such a tale and since I was in an old west mood for reading O decided to give it a read. I was not disappointed. This a very well written and the story very uplifting. The subjects that were covered in this were as relavent today as they were back in the 1860's. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story. Kudos to Mr. Bartholomew.