© Metaixmio, 2003
In this mysterious and haunting novel of eighteenth-century Vienna, Brian O'Doherty takes the reader from the hushed clinic of the controversial physician Dr Franz Anton Mesmer to the glittering and scheming Habsburg court of Maria Theresa of Austria. The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P. is a book of music, psychology and history, a fictional account of Dr Mesmer, celebrated for his discovery of animal magnetism, which proved effective in the cure of many illnesses. We find the doctor in his clinic where he has just taken on a new patient, 18-year-old Marie Therese Paradies, who has been blind since the age of three. A gifted pianist, Marie Therese is protected by the patronage of the Empress for whom she plays often at court where her father, Josef von Paradies, is imperial secretary. As the thriller-like narrative unfolds through the three voices of Dr Mesmer, Marie Therese Paradies and Josef von Paradies, a gripping tale of good versus evil, of intrigue in high places, begins to emerge.
Chatto & Windus 1992
Translated into: Greek
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