[1][2] The audiobook, released in 2009, is narrated by Michael Praed, Clare Wille, and Alison Dowling.

The main historical event depicted is the end of Christian's second marriage, to Kirsten Munk, and the start of his third, to Vibeke Kruse.

There are also numerous sub-plots and parallel stories, the main one being the love affair between two fictional characters, an English lutenist Peter Claire and Emilia Tilsen, a Danish servant of Kirsten's.

In addition there are several references to Danish history and flashbacks to Christian's childhood and subsequent development.

[4][5] The Guardian gave the novel an average rating of 8.6 out of 10 based on reviews from multiple British newspapers.