*Winner of the 2023 Firebird Book Award
[Category: Historical Fiction]
*Nominated for the Independent Author Network
2020 Book of the Year Awards Contest
{Historical Fiction}
Order now: Amazon
2020 Book of the Year Awards Contest
{Historical Fiction}
Order now: Amazon
Empress Sisi is still youthful, gorgeous, and desired
by many. She is loved and honored by her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph I of
Austria-Hungary, but all too soon they are hit by tragedies they are powerless
to prevent.
Although
the King pays for his pet projects with his own funds, it does not spare
Bavaria from financial ruin. Feeling harassed and irritated by his ministers, King
Ludwig considers dismissing the entire cabinet and replacing them with fresh
faces. However, the cabinet members agree
to act first. Seeking a cause to depose their King by constitutional means, the
rebelling Bavarian ministers decide on the rationale that he is mentally unfit
and therefore unable to rule.
They
ask Ludwig's uncle, Prince Luitpold, to step into the royal vacancy once the monarch is removed. Luitpold agrees, on the
condition that the conspirators produce solid
proof that the King is indeed insane. Then King Ludwig
II loses his life under mysterious circumstances. Was it suicide or is someone
strategically eliminating members of the House of Wittelsbach?
Meanwhile,
at court, many people, including the imperial couple and Crown Princess Stéphanie,
know that Rudi has plenty of extra-marital affairs. His newest conquest is 17-year-old Baroness Mary Vetsera, daughter
of Baron Albin Vetsera and his wife, Helene Baltazzi. Rudolph’s
marriage to Steffi is not a particularly happy one and results in the birth of their
only daughter, Archduchess Elisabeth, affectionally referred to as “Erzsi”.
The sudden, and violent death of Sisi’s only son, Crown
Prince Rudolph at his hunting lodge Mayerling, shakes the Monarchy to its core.
And the fact that the dead body of his teenaged mistress is found right next to
his completes the scandal. How will the
imperial couple cope with this devastating loss? Does this tragedy mark the end
of the Danube monarchy, since Rudolph only had a daughter? And will their love
and faith in each other allow Sisi and Franz Joseph to master these difficult
trials?
Praise for EXCERPTS FROM THE IMPERIAL DIARY
"Once again A. Piper Burgi has written another amazing historical novel about one of Europe's most enigmatic consorts. As always, I absolutely enjoyed reading Excerpts from the Imperial Diary and can’t wait to read about the next stage in Sisi’s life."
- Tiffany Ferrell for Readers' Favorite
Praise for EXCERPTS FROM THE IMPERIAL DIARY
- Tiffany Ferrell for Readers' Favorite
