Description

(from inside dustjacket) It is 1918. The German and Austrian empires are crumbling before the victorious armies of the allied powers, and an elegant and aristocratic way of life is about to be swept away forever. But before the curtain falls, one final moment of romantic intrigue is called forth, one more gallant gesture made., when a young, handsome British prisoner of war is offered his freedom on condition that he smuggle a valuable cargo out of Rumania -- a beautiful young princess whose outspoken pro-German sentiments have made her a target of socialist revolutionaries everywhere on the prowl throughout the tottering Middle European monarchies. Suspicious but curious, Captain Harry Phillips is unwise enough to agree to meet the proposed royal "cargo", and finds himself involved in a breathless, perilous chase across wartorn, bleeding Europe as ancient civilizations fall, peasants and gentlefolk battle retreating troops for places on trains, and the princess' enemies pursue her relentlessly through the chaos of defeat. Not the least of Captain Phillips' troubles is the willful, unpredictable, and indomitable temperament of his lovely charge. An exhilarating, taut adventure story crammed with mystery and excitement, rich with the memory of a time and a place and a set of values that were to vanish like morning mist in the post-war years -- yet which are not quite dead in any of us.

Notes

Author is also listed as Robert Tyler Stevens. His real name is Reginald Thomas Staples & he wrote as James Sinclair and Mary Jane Staples, as well.

This book is probably the lightest, coziest war-set novel I've read. It's mainly from the male lead's perspective, so you don't get much access to the princess's inner life, and there's quite a bit of her flushing prettily, being sweetly haughty, and wanting to go clothes shopping. But it's forgivably charming and the description of London at Armistice is vivid and enjoyable. A WWI hammock read? I guess so!

Aesthetic flag: The dust jacket is pretty bad, the alternate is horrible, and the 1978 paperback cover even worse. If you care about such things, I'd almost look for the 1980 PB, retitled In My Enemy's Arms.

Tags

1910-1919, 1970s, English, Europe, Rumanian, adventure, already taken, beautiful/handsome, brave, courageous, comfort-read, cozy, determined, disciplined, disguise, efficient, f/m, famous, forced proximity, identities, switched, male, marriage of convenience, married, nobility/royalty, on the road, on the run, practical, principled, prisoner/POW, protector, pure & innocent, rescue, romance, royal, soldier, temperamental, third-person, train, war, young

Flags

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