Publisher Description
“The King is Dead, Long Live the King” by Mary Coleridge has the simple directness of a fairy tale, albeit one which is run through with cynical irony. A king on his deathbed is granted one hour after death in which he may return to his kingdom. If during that hour, he finds three people who would wish him alive again, then he can indeed come back to life. The hour is spent learning some hard truths, uncovering false friends and finding surprising support where he least expects it. The ending includes a bitter twist.
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About Mary Coleridge
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907) was a British novelist and poet who also wrote essays and reviews. She taught at the London Working Women’s College for twelve years from 1895 to 1907. She wrote poetry under the pseudonym Anodos, taken from George MacDonald; other influences on her were Richard Watson Dixon and Christina Rossetti. Robert Bridges, the poet laureate, described her poems as “wonderously beautiful…but mystical rather and enigmatic.”