Sad Songs of the Death of Kings

At the heart of the human, fact, fiction, and legend become one . . .

Three characters from different times past must confront the consequences of their actions and the isolation that ensues.

The man known as Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper, struggles to find solitude in 1930s Canada and consequently ignites the Arctic Circle War.

In a prelude to the only book Johnson owns—The Count of Monte Cristo—the fictional Abbé Faria, during years of solitary confinement in the Château d’If, has to contend with the emergence in his mind of the indignant Abbé Faria of history.

Faria’s goal to unite Italy is darkened by the past attempts of Giulio de’ Medici—Pope Clement VII—to do the same. Giulio corresponds with the Renaissance’s brightest star, Isabella d’Este, as he contends with his snowbound dreams of escape and adjusts to life in exile following his inadvertent destruction of Rome in 1527. 

These interwoven stories reveal the interchangeability of fact, fiction, and legend as they portray the impact of isolation on character: Johnson’s desire for solitude, the confinement of Faria, and Giulio’s loneliness as a consequence of his choices together illuminate the poignancy of the individual’s struggle to maintain self in insolation and accept the elusive power of hope in hopelessness.