
The story opens amid a jubilant, eight‑day celebration that sweeps a nation from frontier to frontier. A princely wedding dominates the scene, yet the ceremony feels more like a public spectacle than a private union, exposing the tension between duty to the realm and the longing for personal happiness. Through the eyes of Albano, a sharp‑tongued observer riding beside the bridegroom, the narrative captures the glitter of music, feasts, and processions while hinting at the undercurrents of political intrigue and personal doubt.
As the festivities unfold, Albano, Bouverot, and the melancholy prince Luigi navigate a world where titles mask vulnerabilities and the promise of renewal clashes with entrenched sorrow. Their conversations blend satire, melancholy, and philosophical rumination, setting the stage for a sprawling romance that will wander from courts to countryside, from letters to distant churches. Listeners are invited to join a richly detailed, episodic journey where love, ambition, and the search for identity become intertwined against a backdrop of 19th‑century Europe.
Language
en
Duration
~15 hours (884K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Charles Bowen, from page images provided by Google Books
Release date
2011-06-12
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1763–1825
Remembered for witty, unconventional novels and a style full of sudden turns, humor, and feeling, this German writer became one of the most distinctive voices of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His books blend satire, fantasy, philosophy, and deep sympathy for ordinary life.
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