The author took the real history of two of Europe's monarchs and dug deep into their weirdest tendencies and wrote a cross between a satire and a real history. King Ludwig of Bavaria and Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria were cousins (as were most of Europe's monarchs at this time. Ludwig was the spoilt oldest son of a family with mental issues. Elizabeth was a beautiful second to oldest daughter who was selected to be married to her husband Franz. Her care-free upbringing did not prepare her to be an Empress.

Ludwig is just over the top, selfish, short tempered, and completely uninterested in acting as a head of state. His obsession with the composer Wagner is interesting. Sisi, as the head of Austria, does endear herself to Hungary and does work to build hospitals. However, she too, is selfish, obsessed with her beauty and at times just sill.

As I read the book, it brought back "The Accidental Empress" which I remember parts of but apparently didn't write a review. This makes me want to go back and take another look at that.

In short, a bit of real history sprinkled on top with juicy tidbits of scandal and often times steamy fiction. ( )