The Fate of a Crown

The Fate of a Crown (1905) is a novel by L. Frank Baum. Although he is more widely known as the author of the Land of Oz series, Baum also used several pseudonyms to make forays into more conventional fiction for adults. The Fate of a Crown, written under the pen name “Schuyler Staunton,” is a story of corruption, political intrigue, romance, and adventure. “Cold with horror at the revolting deed I gazed into the dark eyes of the murderer. He smiled as he answered my look and shrugged his shoulders as if excusing the crime. ‘A blow for freedom, senhor!’ he announced, in his soft, native patois. ‘Dom Miguel would be grieved were you captured by the police.’” One day, Robert Harcliffe is working for his uncle’s mercantile business in New Orleans. The next, he narrowly escapes imprisonment and is rescued by a shadowy assassin in Brazil. When Dom Miguel de Pintra wrote to his uncle in search of a capable American secretary, the businessman sent Robert, a young college graduate. On Dom Miguel’s plantation, he becomes enamored with the republican cause and soon participates in revolutionary action against the Empire of Brazil. Although he is surrounded by his family and close allies, paranoia and fear dominate Dom Miguel’s every move. Is his daughter Izabel an imperial sympathizer? Is his son a double agent? And what about Lesba, the beautiful ward of Dom Miguel? While The Fate of a Crown is far from the fantasy and fairy tale style most of Baum’s readers adore him for, it remains an entertaining work of adventure fiction for devoted fans of the Oz series and newcomers alike. This edition of L. Frank Baum’s The Fate of a Crown is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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