The Book of Shadows: A Novel - Couverture rigide

Reese, James

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0066210151 ISBN 13 : 9780066210155

Editeur : William Morrow, 2002

Synopsis

Book by Reese James

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

An extraordinary new literary voice makes a stunning debut in a darkly sensual, powerfully told tale of strange destiny and miraculous reawakening.

Herculine is only six-years-old when she watches her mother die horribly and inexplicably. A child alone in the nineteenth-century French countryside, she makes her way to the secluded convent, where she is taken in as a foundling orphan and raised by nuns who teach the children of the privileged to fear a wrathful God. But shy, unworldly Herculine is not like the others in this cold, forebidding place. And when she is led down a dark path by a rebellious fellow student, she soon finds herself convicted of crimesunimaginable.

But death at the hands of the ignorant and falsely pious is not to be Herculine's lot. Held captive in the convent library, she is visited by four unexpected saviors with timeless needs of their own: the incubus priest Father Louis; the tragic, damned beauty Madeleine; the demonic Asmodei; and Sebastiana d'Azur, a witch. By dawn, Herculine is free yet forever changed as she follows her liberators into a world of sensuous pleasures and great mysteries both wondrous and strange.

Secreted away in Sebastiana's once-grand manor high above the Breton sands, Herculine sets out to find out why she has been "chosen" and for what purpose. Her quest--ripe with erotic discovery, dark magic, heresy, and blood--propels her headlong through the perils of the age, across borders between the living and the dead, and back through a time when hysteria and madness reigned, when noble heads were impaled and paraded through the streets of Paris. For only when her mysterious mission is completed--and the terrible otherworldly roots of a gruesome Revolution are finally revealed--can she understand who and what she truly is. Until then, she must simply trust ... and learn.

A work of stunning originality, gorgeous terror, and lush, disturbing beauty, James Reese's The Book of Shadows is a miraculous achievement -- a richly atmospheric, superbly rendered novel that brings to life epochs as colorful as they are chaotic. Rich with unforgettable characters and startling events, it is a masterwork of the imagination that will stand with the novels of A. S. Byatt and Anne Rice, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and other classic literature of shadowy sensuality.

Revue de presse :

“It’s marvelous to have one so eloquent exploring and transcending the gothic genre.” (Anne Rice)

“A novelist of immense talent and promise, and a story that seeps into the mind like a potion.” (Caleb Carr)

“Expertly researched, lavishly detailed and lushly written...an atmosphere so vivid you can smell it, and remarkably striking characters.” (Diana Gabaldon)

“Distinguishes Reese as a star pupil in the Anne Rice school of dark sensuality.” (Publishers Weekly)

“A spellbinding tale with a truly enchanting heroine.” (Kelley Armstrong, author of Bitten)

“Meticulously crafted and thoroughly enchanting. . . .A work of imaginative wizardry.” (Orlando Sentinel)

“Dark, mysterious, sumptuous, lusty, and other worldly...rich in style and allusion, both literary and historical.” (Booklist)

“Darkly erotic...lavishly told...Prepare to put your life on hold for 468 pages and immerse yourself.” (Tampa Tribune)

“[A] very enjoyable debut...lush prose...sensual description, vivid sex scenes.” (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

“A sweeping narrative of period and peril [that] transports the reader into an undiscovered realm of erotica...” (The Jackson Clarion-Ledger)

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: William Morrow
• Date d'édition: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0066210151
• ISBN 13: 9780066210155
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 480