The Prisoner of Zenda's sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, was written by Anthony Hope in 1895 but wasn't made into a novel until 1898. From December 1897 to June 1898, the book was serialized in The Pall Mall Magazine and McClure's Magazine. A supporting character from The Prisoner of Zenda's framing narrative provides the story's setting. According to the framing, the incidents described in both works happened in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Three years after Zenda's ending, this narrative picks up with the same imaginary nation—the kingdom of Ruritania—somewhere in Germanic Middle Europe. The majority of the same characters appear again and again: Rudolf Elphberg, the scheming absolute ruler of Ruritania; Rudolf Rassendyll, the Englishman who had served as his political stooge and was his distant cousin and doppelganger; Flavia, the princess, now queen; Rupert of Hentzau, the dashing well-born villain; Fritz von Tarlenheim, the obedient courtier; Colonel Sapt, Rassendyll receives a formal funeral and is buried as the King, but Sapt and Rassendyll's servant James set the King's body on fire at the hunting lodge, rendering it unrecognizable. As the final member of the Elphberg dynasty, Flavia continued to rule alone after Rudolf V's burial as Rudolf Rassendyll.
Anthony Hope was a British novelist and playwright who lived from 9 February 1863 to 8 July 1933. The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau (1898) are the two novels for which he is best renowned. Hope had his education at Balliol College, Oxford, Marlborough College, and St. John's School in Leatherhead. Father Stafford and Mr. Witt's Widow were two of the subsequent novels and short stories. His first significant literary achievement, The Prisoner of Zenda, was written in 1894. Zenda was an immediate hit, and its amusing lead character, the dapper Rudolf Rassendyll, became a well-known literary creation. He also published The God in the Car, a political tale, in 1894. He first published The Chronicles of Count Antonio in 1896, and then Phroso, an adventure novel set on a Greek island, appeared in 1897. He produced the historical novel Simon Dale in 1898, which features the courtesan and actress Nell Gwyn. He first published Second String in1910, and Mrs. Maxon Protests the following year. Later works included The Secret of the Tower, Beaumaroy Home from the Wars, and Lucinda, both of which appeared in 1919. Hope passed away from throat cancer in 1927 at the age of 70.
