C. M. MAYO
THE LAST PRINCE OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE
The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is a sweeping historical novel of Mexico during the short, tragic, at times surreal, reign of Emperor Maximilian and his court. Even as the American Civil War raged north of the border, a clique of Mexican conservative exiles and clergy convinced Louis Napoleon to invade Mexico and install the Archduke of Austria, Maximilian von Habsburg, as Emperor. A year later, the childless Maximilian took custody of the two year old, half-American, Agustín de Iturbide y Green, making the toddler the Heir Presumptive. Maximilian’s reluctance to return the child to his distraught parents, even as his empire began to fall, and the Empress Carlota descended into madness, ignited an international scandal.
This lush, grand read is based on the true story and illuminates both the cultural roots of Mexico and the political development of the Americas. But it is made all the more captivating by the depth of Mayo’s writing and her understanding of the pressures and influences on these all too human players. Her prose makes the reader taste the foods, smell the spices and flowers and feel the heat of Mexico. Mayo writes for the senses. And for the ages. The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is a story both sweeping and intimate, of geopolitics, the glamour of royalty, and the grit of military command, of the arrogance of power, the dark labyrinths of ambition, and, above all, of a child who was not, in the end, a prince, but a little boy who belonged to his parents.
$26.95 US / $32.95 C | Fiction Hardcover | 6x9 | 448 pages
May 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-932961-64-5 | Carton Quantity: 16
On the first Sunday of August, after the mass in Doña Juliana’s drawing room, and after the apple pie and whipped cream, and after Doña Juliana, leaning heavily on the arm of her old cook, had gone back downstairs, Father Fischer made his proposition.
Angelo thought he must have misheard. “Maximilian wants to do what?”
Father Fischer smiled greasily as he repeated: “His Majesty desires to bring your son, Agustín, under his tutelage.”
A mammoth might have crashed through the ceiling and flattened the piano to splinters. Angelo opened his mouth, but he could not form words. He found himself standing, but his knees felt suddenly uncertain; he put a hand on the edge of Alicia’s chair. Alicia, however, lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Our Agustín would go to Chapultepec Castle? With Their Majesties?”
Father Fischer continued, “His Majesty would assume the responsibility of his education. He would also assume your nephew Salvador’s education in France.”
Pepa said, “We would all be made Highnesses, with the titles of Prince and Princess.” (all is italicized) Pointedly, looking first at Agustín Gerónimo and then at her two younger brothers, she repeated, “All.”
Father Fischer said, in his oily way, “Dear sir, you might consider it as the palace taking your esteemed family under its—” he looked to the ceiling as if there the words were a-fluttering—
“Special protection,” Pepa said. (special is italicized)
“N–– no!”
“Well, that’s that.” Agustín Gerónimo turned to Pepa. “Tough potatoes.”
C. M. Mayo has been living in and writing about Mexico for many years. Her story collection, Sky Over El Nido, won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is also the author of a widely acclaimed travel memoir and is an avid translator and editor of contemporary Mexican literature. - Author photo by Teresa Castracane
Listen to C. M. Mayo’s Library of Congress lecture (PC only) Click Here
Thursday June 18th, 3:39PM
C.M. Mayo's scheduled events