Conspirators

"Beautifully written, intricate and entrancing."--Jaroslaw Anders, "Los Angeles Times Book Review"
Galicia, Austria-Hungary, 1913. In the castle of a frontier town, on the border between Europe and the East, the corrupt Count-Governor Wiladowski watches helplessly while a wave of assassinations sweeps the empire, and his province. When a member of his own family is murdered, the count gives broad police powers to his spymaster, Jakob Tausk: a brilliant young Jew whose ruthless war on terror extends into every corner of the province and beyond, enlisting union organizers, financiers, aristocrats and their servants, and a young novelist and playwright, newly arrived in the Vienna of Franz Josef and Freud, hungry for literary success.
Michael Andre Bernstein is a frequent contributor to" The Times Literary Supplement," the" Los Angeles Times Book Review," and" The New Republic." He is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley. Galicia, Austria-Hungry, 1913. In the Castle of a frontier town, on the border between Europe and the East, the worldly, corrupt Count-Governor Wiladowski watches helplessly while a wave of assassinations sweeps the Empire, and his province. When a member of his own family is murdered, the Count gives broad police powers to his spymaster, Jakob Tausk, a brilliant young Jew whose ruthless war on terror extends into every corner of the province and beyond, enlisting union organizers, financiers, aristocrats and their servants, and a young novelist and playwright newly arrived in the Vienna of Franz Josef and Freud, hungry for literary success.
In the wake of new terrorist attacks, a mysterious preacher appears in the provincial capital--one of the so-called wonder rabbis from the shtetls of the Eas--trailing a band of fanatical disciples who proclaim him the Messiah. Word of the charismatic leader spreads quickly from the Jewish quarter to the Castle, and soon Tausk finds himself serving two masters: the Count and the richest man in the province, Moritz Rotenberg, who has a private interest in the wonder rabbi and whose only son has retuned from his studies burning for revolution, ready to gather disciples of his own.
Moving from underground meetings and makeshift synagogues to the bedroom of country estates and the secret high councils of the ailing Habsburg Empire, Michael Andre Bernstein's compelling first novel evokes a densely believable world on the edge of collapse, full of the haunting suggestiveness of a fable or nightmare and the erotic, mystical, and apocalyptic passions of an age.
"Beautifully written, intricate, and entrancing."--Jaroslaw Anders, "Los Angeles Times Book Review"
"Bernstein creates a vivid cast of characters and does a superb job of evoking the feverish intellectual atmosphere of Middle Europe . . . A pleasure to read."--Jamie James, "The Wall Street Journal"
"Bernstein gets it all right. "Conspirators "emotionally compelling and intellectually exhilarating, splendidly re-creates a forgotten world."--Dan Cryer, "Newsday"
"Precision, imagination, and acute psychological insights are the hallmarks of "Conspirators," an extraordinarily satisfying historical novel . . . An unusually assured and captivating debut."--Carlo Wolff, "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "
"Grandly old-fashioned . . . Bernstein maintains firm control of his plot, and painstakingly re-creates the historical landscape."--"The New Yorker"
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" An] excellent debut novel . . . This is historical fiction at its most convincing."--Regina Marler, "The ""New York"" Observer"
"The elegance and wit of Bernstein's prose complement his large historical canvas and give credibility to the diverse forms of illiberalism which swept through the final days of empire . . . What is most remarkable about this extraordinarily evocative novel is that its story of apocalyptic terror, challenging a corrupt empire at the limits of liberalism, echoes back in time but also in the as yet undetermined present."--Bryan Cheyette, "The Times Literary Supplement "(London)
""Conspirators" is a deeply original novel, grand and far-seeing in its conception, comprehensive in its close examination of life in a Jewish community in eastern Austria . . . The qualities of the writing suggested to this reader the work of Musil and Mann and, in the closeness of its observation, Proust."--Paula Fox, author of "Borrowed Finery"" "
"In "Conspirators" Bernstein has created a rich weave of ingenious plot and counterplot, sharp psychological insight, and wicked humor, all infused with the dark sensuality of the era he so evocatively brings to life."--Nancy Richler, author of "Your Mouth Is Lovely"
" A] spellbinding first novel . . . Bernstein is] a novelist with a penchant for ideas. The complex challenges he sets himself in this book, and the flair with which he meets them, make this first novel a compelling, enjoyable read, and create high expectations for his next effort."--Harvey Blume, "The ""Jerusalem Report"
"Bernstein's point of view is arresting, and his elaborate stylistic flourishes befit the era he describes."--"Kirkus Reviews "
"Examining ethnic and class roles, violence and change, and the philosophical/psychological makeup of his characters, Bernstein, a contributor to such publications as the "Times Literary Supplement," has created a multileveled literary thriller with implications that reverberate into today's headlines. Highly recommended."--"Library Journal"