Elisabeth, straining against the restrictions imposed on her gender, struggles for the authority to raise her own children, to help unify her dual nations, and to maintain her fabled beauty, eventually seeking escape further and further from the stultifying Hapsburg court. Ludwig wrestles with his sexuality (particularly his longstanding attachment to stable master Richard Hornig) and shirks his responsibilities as a ruler to commission costly castles and operas. Great artists also make up the cast: Ludwig was in close contact with composer Richard Wagner, whom he called his “Great Friend,” and sculptress Elisabeth Ney and painter Franz Winterhalter also make appearances.īut more than any moment of world historical or artistic import, what will grip readers in Empty Theatre are the intimate, human moments that color the lives of these monarchs.
The book’s scope is vast: readers are privy to the machinations that help to consolidate Austria and Hungary, as well as the North German Confederation, setting the stage for the wars of the following century. Jac Jemc’s latest novel, Empty Theatre, follows Ludwig and Elisabeth (also called Sisi) from their Bavarian childhoods to their ascension to their respective thrones (Ludwig as King of Bavaria, Elisabeth as Empress of Austria and Hungary), through the often painful years that followed, all the way to their deaths. Does the Maximalist Novel Still Matter?.The Biggest Bombshells From Prince Harry's Memoir.
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