Tilting at Windmills: A Novel of Cervantes and the Errant Knight Book

In seventeenth-century Valladolid, Spain’s new capital, Miguel Cervantes is busy writing episodes of his comic masterpiece, Don Quixote. His comedy is quickly making him the most popular author in the country, when three potential disasters strike: Cervantes discovers that there is a real Don Quixote, exactly like the character he thought he’d invented; a jealous poet’s plots involving one of the novel’s other characters make Cervantes a laughingstock; and Cervantes falls in love with a beautiful, widowed, but unavailable duchess. Many duels, misunderstandings, and betrayals later, Don Quixote himself comes to Cervantes’ rescue.

This sparkling tale of crazed knights, thwarted love, and literary rivalry is imbued with all of the spirit, verve, and humor of the classic novel to which it pays playful tribute. Tilting at Windmills is a dazzling evocation of Cervantes’ life and times, and a brilliant weave of fact, fiction, and farce.

Library Journal

This delightful debut reimagines the life and times of Cervantes during the rising success of Don Quixote, which was published in serialized form. A poet named Ongora seeks to curry favor with the emperor of Spain by involving numerous characters (recognizable stereotypes from the classic, like a beautiful duchess and a sly marquis) in a scheme that threatens to discredit Cervantes. It is only through the intervention of a real-life Don Quixote, named the Old Knight, that Ongora's scheme is foiled and Cervantes's reputation saved. In addition to the absorbing plot and comical characters, this historical novel offers a clever style and insight into the manners and fashion of 17th-century Spain, using striking similes and metaphors that will delight readers. This tribute is a recommended companion to Don Quixote and should be considered by all collections.-David A. Berone, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.