In the imperial court of 16th-century Ratisbon, a young woman named Barbara Blomberg catches the eye of the most powerful man in Europe: Emperor Charles V. What follows is a dangerous dance of ambition, desire, and social transgression, as a merchant's daughter navigates the treacherous waters of the Habsburg court where a single misstep can mean ruin. Georg Ebers, the celebrated author of An Egyptian Princess, turns his meticulous historical eye toward this real-life scandal, weaving a tale of forbidden love, political intrigue, and the unyielding force of passion against the machinery of empire. The novel follows Barbara as she grapples with the consequences of capturing an emperor's attention, while those around her calculate the political ramifications of the imperial favor she has attracted. Ebers renders the atmosphere of Ratisbon with vivid detail, capturing a city poised between the old world and the new, where the health of an aging emperor hangs in the balance and ambitious nobles maneuver for position. This is historical fiction at its most engaging: a story about one woman's struggle to claim her own destiny in a world determined to define her.
