The Emperor Waltz
The most ambitious and daring novel novel yet from Booker Prize-shortlisted Philip Hensher.
‘A novel that’s almost fizzy to the touch … A performance of extraordinary flair and majesty from a writer who seems capable of anything’ Guardian
‘The Emperor Waltz’ is a single novel with three narrative strands: fourth-century Rome, 1920s Germany, and 1980s London. In each place, a small coterie is closely connected and separated from the larger world. In each story, the larger world regards the small coterie and its passionately-held beliefs and secrets with suspicion and hostility.
It is the story of eccentricity, its struggle, its triumph, its influence – but also its defeat.
”'A novel that is always a joy to read … Read it and allow yourself to become a better person” - Independent
”'Important … Glorious … He might have the iconoclastic temperament of a Kandinsky, but he is an old master when he glimpses the cat asleep under the table or the curve of a woman’s neck” - The Times
”'A glittering performance … 'The Emperor Waltz' has the depth and pleasurable density of a 19th-century fiction; I loved it” - Ian Thomson, Evening Standard
”'Splendidly thought out and extraordinarily readable” - A S Byatt, Guardian
'A generous, courageous firework of a novel - a Roman candle, alive and fizzing in the hand' New Statesman -
”'A book as joyful as its musical source … 'The Emperor Waltz' is a beautiful book, both profound and funny. It is a powerful invocation to live a life of joy, surrounded by true friends” - Telegraph
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