Per Olov Enquist The Royal Physician’s Visit_booksleeve
2003 Shortlist

The Royal Physician’s Visit

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

Set in Denmark in the 1760’s, The Royal Physician’s Visit magnificently recasts the dramatic era of Danish history when Johann Friedrich Struensee, a German doctor from Altona, student of the Enlightenment philosophers Diderot and Voltaire, and court physician to mad young King Christian, stepped through the aperture history had opened for him and became for two years the holder of absolute power in Denmark.
Dr. Struensee, tall, handsome and charismatic, introduced hundreds of reforms, many of which would become hallmarks of the French Revolution twenty years later, including freedom of the press and improvement of the treatment of the peasantry. He also took young Queen Caroline Mathilde- unsatisfied by her unstable, childlike husband – as his mistress. He was a brilliant intellectual and brash reformer, yet Struensee lacked the cunning and subtlety of a skilled politician and, most tragically, lacked the talent to choose the right enemies at court, a flaw which would lead to his torture and execution.
The Royal Physician’s Visit, a view from the seat of absolute power, explores the connections that will always run between political theory and practice, power, sex, love and the life of the mind.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Per
Olov Enquist

Per Olov Enquist, better known as P. O. Enquist was one of Sweden’s internationally best known authors. He has worked as a journalist, playwright, and novelist. In the nineties, he gained international recognition with his novel The Visit of The Royal Physician.

After a degree in History of literature at Uppsala University he worked as a newspaper columnist and TV debate moderator from 1965 to 1976. Because of his work he soon became an influential figure on the Swedish literary scene. From 1970 to 1971 Enquist lived in Berlin on a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service and in 1973 he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been working as an independent writer since 1977.

Per Olov Enquist, better known as P. O. Enquist was one of Sweden’s internationally best known authors. He has worked as a journalist, playwright, and novelist. In the nineties, he gained international recognition with his novel The Visit of The Royal Physician.

After a degree in History of literature at Uppsala University he worked as a newspaper columnist and TV debate moderator from 1965 to 1976. Because of his work he soon became an influential figure on the Swedish literary scene. From 1970 to 1971 Enquist lived in Berlin on a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service and in 1973 he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been working as an independent writer since 1977.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Tiina
Nunnally

RELATED FEATURES

Audio June 11 2024

All About Books Podcast Features the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Dublin City FM podcaster Katy Conneely spotlights the award.
Video June 5 2024

2024 Winners Mircea Cărtărescu & Sean Cotter in conversation

with Journalist Alex Clarke at the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Video May 31 2024

2024 Winner Ceremony Highlights

Author Mircea Cărtărescu & translator Sean Cotter presented with the DLA Award at ILFD.
Video May 8 2024

Alexis Wright on Praiseworthy

2024 Dublin Literary Award Shortlisted author spotlight.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.