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The Royal Physician's Visit

The Royal Physician's Visit - Per Olov Enquist, Tiina Nunnally 4.5 Stars.

I love books that bring history to life and what an utterly fascinating and compelling read based on historical fact The Royal Phsician's Visit was. It tells the story of King Christian VII of Denmark, his young Queen Caroline Mathilda of England and his Physician Johann Friedrich Struensee and the Royal Affair that that rocked the Danish Court and brought the kingdom to the brink of revolution


In 1768, a magnetic and handsome German Physician by the name of Struensee became the physician to King Christian VII of Denmark who has been suffering from some kind of "madness" and Struensee's responsibility is to look after the king and ensure he does not appear too "mad" in public, after a short period ot time Struensee becomes the Kings confidant and manages to gain responsibility for reformation of the state much to the court and the Dowager Queen's dismay, however when he embarks on affair with the young Queen the whispering and rumours begin and the Royal Affair becomes the talk of Copenhagen and action needs to be taken.

I have read very little about Danish history but one book leads to another and while discussing [b:Number the Stars|47281|Number the Stars|Lois Lowry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370917812s/47281.jpg|2677305] with a friend one day she recommended I watch a movie called "The Royal Affair" I am not a one for movies so I googled and found this book called the The Royal Physician's Visit and after reading the blurb I knew I had to find out more.

The story is compelling and so well researched. The account is strongly based on fact but the author does fill in the blanks quite convincingly with believable fictional dialogue and descriptions that leaves the reader in no double that he has done his research on this period in history and created a wonderful sense of time and place and a gripping tale of court intrigue, power struggles and royal affairs.

The book is translated from Swedish to English and there were a few times when I had to re-read scentances just to make sense of them and I think perhaps this may be down to the translation from Swedish to English. Having said that it didn't affect the overall enjoyment of the story.

A terrific read and a nice insight into Danish history that left me wanting more.

I did watch the film The Royal Affair after completing the book and it was superb.