’Midst the Wild Carpathians

Along the river Drave, ancient trees stand in deep water and canoes thread through tangled roots. This historical novel opens with a hunt in 1666, as a noble party gathers at the forest's edge. Grooms manage restless horses, villagers serve as beaters, and men in canoes wait to turn the animals back from the swamps. Detailed portraits of riders, clothing and weapons set the hunters' social rank beside the dangers of the landscape.

Court politics bring a different kind of urgency. Under pressure from magnates, Prince Apafi has signed a warrant threatening Banfi's life. His wife Anna confronts him, secures his signature on a pardon and sends a messenger racing to Bethlen Castle with spare horses. The scene sets public authority against private conscience and family loyalty. Readers interested in historical fiction can find both elaborate descriptions of a Hungarian wilderness and tense exchanges in which a ruler's decisions carry immediate human consequences.