In the glittering salons of Saint Petersburg, where duty and desire wage eternal war, a young naval captain discovers that love can be the most destructive tempest of all.
Captain Élie-Petrovich Pravdine lives for three things: the sea, his frigate L'Espérance, and his crew. Then he meets Princess Flora-beautiful, witty, and married to an older prince. What begins as infatuation becomes obsession. Though Flora resists his advances, torn between her growing passion and her vows, Pravdine will not be deterred.
When the Tsar orders Pravdine to transport the prince and princess to England, fate delivers Flora into his hands. As a terrible storm gathers on the horizon, he faces an impossible choice: his ship and his men, or one night with the woman who consumes his every thought. His decision will cost sailors their lives, destroy a marriage, and set two lovers on a path toward tragedy.
Written in 1862, when Dumas was sixty years old, Princess Flora is a departure from his swashbuckling adventures-an intimate, bittersweet tale of obsessive love set against the harsh beauty of the Russian seas. With characteristic wit, Dumas crafts a story that is at once romantic and darkly ironic, never letting his readers forget that even Napoleon fell.
