The Stockholm Octavo - Tapa blanda

"Layered, absorbing, and rife with interesting fictional characters and genuine historical detail, Engelmann's work kept me in suspense from this first page to the last."--Real Simple

"Karen Engelmann's absorbing debut doesn't traffic in mystery so much as Mystery with a capital "m." . . . . As she deftly shuffles characters, Engelmann's hand moves faster than a reader's eye in a thoroughly engaging story of intrigue and gamesmanship."--Christian Science Monitor

"Delicious...the essence of witty intelligence. Readers will delight [in] every element in this Swedish weave, from the brutal winter weather to the unfurling of a lady's fan. The plot is an urgent one, and the characters mysterious, appealing, and memorable....I felt a real kinship with author Karen Engelmann."--Sena Jeter Naslund, New York Times bestselling author of Ahab's Wife and Abundance: A Novel of Maire Antoinette

"A delicious page-turner that brings 18th century Stockholm to vivid life, complete with scandal, conspiracy, mystery, and a hint of magic. Karen Engelmann's spectacular debut drew me in....A captivating tale, beautifully told."--Eleanor Brown, New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters

"Fantastic . . . This rollicking adventure story reads at times like a fairy tale, with Good Guys and Bad Guys and obstacles to be recognized and overcome. It's all quite fun. As either historical novel or adventure story, this clever first novel should appeal to a broad range of readers.--Library Journal (starred review)

"A juicy page-turner...Engelmann's intellectually playful take on the mathematics of love and power proves irresistible."--O magazine

"Mysterious, suspenseful, and, at times, action-packed."--Booklist (starred review)

"Karen Engelmann's The Stockholm Octavo is a bonbon box filled with treats designed to appeal to lovers of literary historical thrillers."--Salon.com

"Blends political intrigue, fortune-telling, alchemy, skullduggery, high treason and love. The plot is so compelling it will keep you up at night, and the characters so well-crafted you will gladly follow them through the streets and alleys of 18th-century Stockholm"--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Karen Engelmann's novel brims with historical detail and timeless magic."--Barnes & Noble Review

In Stockholm of 1791, self-satisfied bureaucrat Emil Larsson is informed by a fortune teller that in order to find love and connection, he must first find eight individuals who can help him realize this vision--a search that becomes dangerous when he must pull his country back from rebellion and chaos. 50,000 first printing.