The Prisoner of Zenda
1894
What if you woke up one morning and had to be a king? That's the absurd, exhilarating premise at the heart of The Prisoner of Zenda. Rudolf Rassendyll is a carefree English gentleman on holiday in the tiny Alpine kingdom of Ruritania when he discovers he bears an uncanny resemblance to the rightful monarch. When the King is drugged and imprisoned by his villainous half-brother on the eve of his coronation, Rudolf faces an impossible choice: flee, or step into the crown and impersonate a king he has never met. What follows is a breathless adventure of swordfights, court intrigue, and impossible romance. Rudolf must outwit the treacherous Black Michael and his deadly ally Rupert of Hentzau, all while falling for the luminous Princess Flavia, and knowing he can never truly have her. First published in 1894, this novel invented an entire genre of fiction and has been delighting readers for over a century with its wit, daring, and bittersweet heart.
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“For my part, if a man must needs be a knave I would have him a debonair knave... It makes your sin no worse as I conceive, to do it à la mode and stylishly.””
— Anthony Hope
“I have an income nearly sufficient for my wants (no one's income is ever quite sufficient, you know).””
— Anthony Hope
“If love were the only thing, Iwould follow you”
— Anthony Hope
“There are moments when I dare not think of it, but there are others when I rise in spirit to where she ever dwells; then I can thank God that I love the noblest lady in the world, the most gracious and beautiful, and that there was nothing in my love that made her fall short in her high duty.””
— Anthony Hope
“God save the King!"Old Sapt's mouth wrinkled into a smile."God save 'em both!" he whispered.””
— Anthony Hope
“But if it be never - if I can never hold sweet converse again with her, or look upon her face, or know from her her love; why, then, this side the grave, I will live as becomes the man whom she loves...””
— Anthony Hope
“A real king's life is perhaps a hard one; but a pretended king's is, I warrant, much harder.””
— Anthony Hope
“Ah! but a man cannot be held to write down in cold blood the wild and black thoughts that storm his brain when an uncontrolled passion has battered a breach for them. Yet, unless he sets up as a saint, he need not hate himself for them. He is better employed, as it humbly seems to me, in giving thanks that power to resist was given to him ....””
— Anthony Hope
“It is my belief that, given the necessary physical likeness, it was far easier to pretend to be king of Ruritania than it would have been to personate my next-door neighbor.””
— Anthony Hope
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Hope, Anthony. The Prisoner of Zenda. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-prisoner-of-zenda-15996af2-6456-4bd6-beb4-c2568917dab9.Hope, A. (1894). The Prisoner of Zenda. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-prisoner-of-zenda-15996af2-6456-4bd6-beb4-c2568917dab9Hope, Anthony. The Prisoner of Zenda. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-prisoner-of-zenda-15996af2-6456-4bd6-beb4-c2568917dab9.
