Not Sure Frederick Is all that Great

Berlin and Sans-Souci; or Frederick the Great and his friends by Luise Mühlbach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first look into Muhlbach, and I enjoyed it. I didn't really know what to expect, and was pleased that I thought it mostly worked.

This is primarily the story of Frederick the Great, though most of the time is spent on people in his orbit. We get the story of some of those who served him in government, his sisters (especially Amelia) and their loves, a beautiful dancer the king fell in love with, and the brilliant people he surrounded himself with, particularly Voltaire.

Amelia's story is the most similar to traditional historical romance. She falls in love with a brilliant soldier, a young man named von Trenck, who is a favorite of Frederick's and is being promoted rapidly, but he is still much too far beneath her socially to even allow rumors of their connection to exist. Their visits and letters are discovered and he is jailed, ostensibly for treason against the state. Amelia fights for him; the king demands she forget him entirely; Trenck escapes, but never reconnects with her; years pass; and Amelia intentionally destroys her voice and her beauty when her brother insists she marry the king of Denmark. It's tragic, and it also shows the absurd social stratification that existed in European states at that time, a theme repeated in other subplots.

Another subplot includes a student at university who excels in studies but then falls in love with the theater and a particular actor. It's not until the day of graduation that we learn that the student is a woman in disguise. The very conservative professors allow her to graduate--she was a favorite--and also loosen their restrictions on the theater.

Voltaire is a dick in this novel, and he really wears out his welcome. I wonder how accurate this portrayal is. But Frederick loved him--up until he didn't. The king himself isn't much better, and is often worse. So inflexible and demanding. He would let on that he was just one of the guys at times, but then he'd get furious if he didn't get the respect he felt like he deserved. He basically kidnaps a beautiful dancer and makes her perform in Berlin, preventing her from making any decisions about her future. And the way he treats his sister was so unfair, forcing her to pretend to be happy at all times even when she is inconsolable with disappointment. It seems like the kindness of a loving brother might have succeeded where the demands of a tyrant failed.

One thing I appreciated about the character Frederick, and possibly about the real person, was his progressive view of religion. He was pretty much an atheist, more interested in philosophy and the beauties of nature than a supernatural creator that he couldn't believe in. He sounds in many places a lot more like people today than his own contemporaries. He didn't really care what religion his people or officers or officials were, which I found surprising and positive.

There are differences worth looking at, perhaps at another time, but this novel compares very well with Scott, Ainsworth, Dumas, and others from the period. It's just very interesting to have a story from the German perspective, taking place in Berlin instead of Paris or London or Edinburgh. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to more by this author. I have 8 or 9 other titles, so we'll see if this is representative of her writing.

It'll be interesting either way.

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