I Read Books: Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind the Throne

If George Barr McCutcheon is remembered for anything these days it’s for his novel Brewster’s Millions which was adapted into a play and also several movies. However at the start of the 20th century he wrote a popular series of Ruritanian Romances revolving around the fictional (and small) East European Principality of Graustark.

In the first, Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind a Throne, American Grenfell Lorry meets and has minor adventures with a mysterious foreigner, Miss Sophia Guggenslocker. Despite her name he falls entirely in love and resolves to track down both her and the mysterious country of Graustark she come from. With some effort he finds the place, but can’t find the Guggenslockers until he and his companion foil a plot to kidnap the princess of Graustark. Inevitably it is revealed that Guggenslocker was a nom de guerre to allow Yetive, Princess of Graustark, to travel incognito.

Graustark lost a war and owes an indemnity that is coming due but has no money. Yetive could solve this by marrying one of two princes. Of course her heart belongs to Lorry. There’s murder, disguise, plotting, dramatic reveals, legal problems and so on and so forth. And a happy ending!

Read This: For a somewhat melodramatic adventure story from the turn of the 20th century.
Don’t Read This: It’s dated and poorly paced, and some of the dilemmas are a little old fashioned; to modern readers it telegraphs its surprises.

(Crossposted onto GoodReads for some reason.)