By Katja Perat. Translated by Michael Biggins<\/p>\n
ISBN: 978-1-912545-179<\/strong><\/p>\n Katja Perat’s novel is a serio-comical fictional romp through the Habsburg Empire of the fin de si\u00e8cle, beginning in 1874 Lemberg (present day Lviv\/Lvov in Ukraine), continuing to Vienna, and ending in the Habsburg Adriatic seaport of Trieste in 1912. \u00a0Along her way, the protagonist, the daughter of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch encounters luminaries of the Empire’s cultural elite, including Gustav Klimt and his models Adele Bloch-Bauer and Emilie Fl\u00f6ge, Gustav and Alma Mahler, Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl, the Princess von Thurn und Taxis, Rainer Maria Rilke and others, in each case providing the reader with new, seemingly first-hand insights into these real-life individuals\u2019 characters and thought, not to mention the protagonist\u2019s own long and sometimes tortured personal development and emotional maturation. \u00a0Its title notwithstanding, The Masochist is a delight and immensely rewarding to read: \u00a0witty, energetic, erudite, profound, and all of a piece.<\/strong><\/p>\n “The Masochist<\/strong>\u00a0is a fascinating evocation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in its late incandescence; lyrically precise, as befits a poet, serious yet witty. . .”<\/em><\/p>\n David Rose,\u00a0Confingo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n “In\u00a0<\/em>The Masochist, Katja Perat evokes two contrasting emotions. By reanimating a fabulous cast of real-life (and larger-than-life) characters, she mixes wry humor and dramatic escapades to create a romp through fin-de-si\u00e8cle Vienna. Underneath this surface gaiety, however, the tone is poignant and rueful. We can\u2019t help but feel Nada\u2019s great frustration at her era\u2019s blindnesses \u2014 the kernel of our own gender inequality. By bringing to life the ideas that underpin much 20th-century thought, Perat helps us see their essential, grandiose deafness.”<\/em><\/p>\n Tom\u00a0Conaghan,\u00a0LA Review of Books<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n “Here she meets the likes of Gustav Klimt, Theodor Herzl, Gustav Mahler, Sigmund Freud, and (later) Rainer Maria Rilke, but each is viewed through the lens of how Nada personally interacts with him. She meets Herzl only once, and references Mahler and Klimt in passing; one of Klimt\u2019s models, Emilie Fl\u00f6ge, requires more narrative attention than the painter himself. An individual\u2019s encounters with fame will always be more delightfully randomized than a history student\u2019s.”<\/em><\/p>\n Jennifer Helinek,\u00a0Open Letter Review<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0“The Masochist is a work of fiction rooted in fact \u2013 a smart retelling of a period with which readers may think they are familiar, a rebalancing of traditional gender roles, and a many-layered exploration of the individual psyche that strikes exactly the right balance between entertaining and profound.”<\/em><\/p>\n The Monthly Booking<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “I thought this was a superb book. It was witty, dabbled around with an interesting part of history, told an excellent story, had a narrator who was not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself…”<\/em><\/p>\n
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