Reigning Passions

by Kathrin Perutz

By the middle nineteenth century, imperial Austria was in the twilight of its sovereignty. Shunning the embraces of the cautious, pedestrian Franz Joseph, the ravishing Empress Elisabeth bathed in olive oil, wrote sonnets, studied archeology, and became the most intrepid horsewoman in Europe. Her cousin and soulmate Ludwig II of Bavaria. immured himself in extravagant castles of crystal and lapis lazuli. And an Austrian aristocrat named Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the man who was to give his name to masochism, sought salvation through pain.

365 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978