Book description
1210 and a black force is sweeping England.
For a vengeful King John has seized control of the Church, leaving
corpses to lie in unconsecrated ground, babies unbaptized in their
cradles and the people terrified of dying in sin.
And in the village of Gastmere, the consequences grow darker still
when Elena, a servant girl, is dragged into a conspiracy to absolve
the sins of the lord of the manor. As the terrors that soon begin to
plague Elena's sleep grow darker, in desperation she visits the
cunning woman, who has been waiting for just such an opportunity to
fulfil an ancient curse conjured at the gallows.
Elena, haunted by this curse and threatened with death for a crime
she didn't commit, flees the village ... only to find her nightmare
has barely begun.
For treachery lurks in every shadow as King John's brutal reign
makes enemies of brothers, murderers of virgins and sinners of us all.
Karen Maitland travelled and worked in many parts of the United
Kingdom before finally settling in the beautiful medieval city of
Lincoln. She is the author of
The White Room
,
Company of Liars
and
The Owl Killers.
The latter two titles are available as Penguin paperbacks.
