The New York Times
Stevenson has immersed herself in the literature of the period, and one can sense the heady zest with which she details Balthasar's medical treatments or spins off a line of dialogue. There are also vivid descriptions of a post-plague, post-fire London, where ''the burned corpses of buildings'' dominate the skyline. — Michael Upchurch
Publishers Weekly
Holland, London and Barbados in the 17th century are the striking backdrops for Stevenson's strong sequel to her praised The Winter Queen. Here the protagonist is Balthasar, the son of the queen of Bohemia (sister to Britain's late King Charles I) and the queen's secret husband, Pelagius, a prince of the West African nation of Oyo. Having completed his medical studies in Leiden, Balthasar returns to Zeeland to establish his practice. Circumstances involve him with Aphra Behn, the so-called first feminist writer. Unhappily married to a Dutchman, she is a spy for England; she steals the papers that certify Balthasar's royal birth. A decade later, after the plague has decimated Europe, Balthasar moves to Restoration England, where he marries a servant woman, Sibella. Her family roots are gentry, and her father has willed her property in Barbados, so the newlyweds settle in the Caribbean. The novel acquires new historical interest and narrative drama as Stevenson portrays the island's slave culture, where Balthasar's mulatto coloring becomes especially ironic, especially in light of the fact that he must buy slaves in order to survive. The couple endure three years of torrid heat, invasive insects, social humiliation and, finally, a slave uprising, before they decide to return home to England. There Balthasar's life intersects with Behn's again. Stevenson's remarkable knowledge of 17th-century history, culture, religious bigotry and political turmoil is gracefully communicated. Colorful tidbits-both virtuous ladies and courtesans regularly wear vizards (masks) in public, for example-enliven the text. In depicting Balthasar's anomalous position as a black man in white society, and a descendant of royal blood who lives as a commoner, Stevenson engagingly illuminates a pivotal era of history. (Nov. 3) Forecast: Stevenson's historical novels are models of the genre, a boon to indie booksellers looking for quality. Another selling point: the publisher promises the concluding work in this trilogy in 2004. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
This richly textured and complex sequel to The Winter Queen follows the career of Balthasar van Overmeer, a Leiden-trained physician in 17th-century Holland and the half-black son of exiled Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, and her clandestine African husband, Pelagius. After his father's death, young Balthasar, concealing his true identity, continues to lead a modest life in the care of two family servants. An arranged marriage eventually carries him to Barbados where his wife hopes to claim her inheritance and raise their prospects. The brutality of plantation society and the climate drive them back to Europe, ultimately to London where they settle into a comfortable middle-class life with their two children. But all around them society roils in a stew of political infighting, social intrigue, and the struggles of a top-heavy society in which the rich exploit the poor and where violence and disease are commonplace. As nephew to King Charles, Balthasar is close enough to the crown to be endangered if his identity is revealed, and suspicions are rife. This second volume of Stevenson's projected trilogy surpasses the first in richly drawn characters, plot complexity, and historic detail. Readers will be on tenterhooks to find out what happens next. Highly recommended.-Jennifer S. Baker, Seattle P.L. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
The second installment of a trilogy, begun with The Winter Queen (2002), follows the fortunes of the son of a Bohemian queen and an African king. Balthasar Stuart was the only son Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia (a Protestant who was forced to relinquish her throne in the face of a Catholic coup d'etat), and Pelagius van Overmeer (an African king of the Yoruba tribe who came to Europe as a slave). Raised in Holland in secrecy (for fear of assassination), Balthasar barely knew his parents-they died while he was a medical student-and had no interest in politics or court life. But he made the mistake once of admitting his royal origins to Aphra Behn, an ambitious young playwright he had treated for venereal disease. Aphra knew a good story when she heard one, so she broke into Balthasar's rooms and stole his father's notebooks, which related the history of his life and contained a copy of his marriage certificate. Balthasar was chagrined, but he had his work to occupy him in Holland-until the plague broke out and killed most of his patients. He then moved to London, a city still reeling from the effects of both the plague and the Great Fire of 1666. In London he made the acquaintance of a naval officer who obtained a post for him in Barbados, where for some years he moved uncomfortably between the black natives and the white colonists. By the time he moved back to England, London was consumed with plots against King James II, who was being booted off the throne on account of his Catholic faith. In the scramble for succession, pretenders were coming forward with far weaker claims to the throne than Balthasar had. Would he be drawn into intrigues of state after all? Not in this volume-but there's athird on the way. Shares its predecessor's historical sweep and color, but the story itself becomes rather formulaic toward the end.
