The Princess Casamassima

Hyacinth Robinson, a sensitive London bookbinder caught between his illegitimate aristocratic heritage and his squalid upbringing, entangles himself in a clandestine anarchist cell. After pledging to commit a political assassination, he encounters the bored, wealthy Princess Casamassima, who toys with radicalism to escape her hollow marriage. As Hyacinth experiences the refined art and architecture of Paris and Venice through her influence, his loyalty to the violent redistribution of wealth falters. He finds himself paralyzed by a conflict between his commitment to social revolution and his devotion to the cultural achievements of the elite class he was tasked to destroy.

Readers interested in the tensions between collective political action and individual aesthetic appreciation find this a granular study of 19th-century radicalism. It appeals to those seeking a psychological portrait of how environment and biology dictate one’s allegiances. By the end, the reader understands the specific logistical and moral anxieties that plagued underground European socialist movements. One walks away with a clear view of the tragic friction that occurs when a desire for social justice clashes with a reverence for high civilization.