“Signs, wonders, and witchcraft beset 17th-century France” in this “grim but spellbinding” novel of a mother searching for her son inspired by true events (Kirkus Reviews). France, 1673. A young woman from the country, Charlotte Picot must venture to the fearsome city of Paris in search of her last remaining son, Nicolas. Either fate or mere coincidence places the quick-witted charlatan Adam … coincidence places the quick-witted charlatan Adam Lesage in her path. Adam is newly released from the prison galleys and on the hunt for treasure. But Charlotte, believing him to be a spirit she has summoned from the underworld, enlists his help in finding her child. Charlotte and Adam―comically ill-matched yet essential to one another―journey to Paris, then known as the City of Crows.
Evoking pre-revolutionary France with all its ribaldry, superstition, and intrigue, “Womersley weaves a haunting tale of the drastic lengths people will go to achieve their deepest desires” (Publishers Weekly).
“A gothic masterpiece.” ―Better Read Than Dead
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Set in 1673 France, Charlotte Picot grieves the death of her husband and with her only child Nicolas, she flees her small village to save him from the plague which sweeps across the country. Along the way, Nicolas is stolen from her and she is left for dead. Rescued by an old woman who brings her back from the brink of death, Charlotte continues her quest to find her son who she fears has been taken to Paris to be sold. Along the way, she meets Lesage, recently freed from jail and together they begin a journey filled with fear, rogues and superstition.
‘Grief was an unpredictable burden for a woman; it killed or deranged some, yet made warriors of others.’
This novel is beautifully written and is the second of this author’s novels I’ve read. Like his earlier novel, Cairo, this one is hard to put down. The language is evocative and the descriptions put you into a place so full of hardship, we’re grateful to have been born in a different time. I loved the idea that ignorance and lack of education heightened Charlotte and Lesage’s superstitions of sorcery and magic for explanation of events which today, with the knowledge of science, would be easily explained. Witches, sought after for many things were revered and feared.
‘Monsieur Maigret placed the skull back on the shelf. “You know, they are hanging Justine Gallant and Monsieur Olivier at Place de Greve tonight. For murder. Witchcraft. They say they tried to summon the Devil himself.”‘
It is also a story of a woman’s grief for her family and her sheer desperation to do whatever she has to do to get her son back despite the consequences. What she does towards the end is shocking and takes your breath away and there is quite a bit of controversy over the ending. All in all an enjoyable and engaging read.
Womersley is like a Parisian cook. He brushes the pastry of seventeenth century France with colour, flair and fragrance. He uses words like flavours so I can almost smell garlic on the breaths of gallic troubadours. He throws in herbs, casting a spell, luring me with latin.
I run to catch up with them, daring to make their world mine, if only from a safe distance. For plague and pestilence aren’t just physical maladies, and a soul is easily won. They are all an unsavoury lot.
I had hoped for a cure more palatable than the one he presented, a conclusion more enjoyable. I couldn’t help but turn my nose up at the turn of events. Shy away at a crust he could have kneaded more satisfactorily.
Throughout, he convinces us that magic is nothing but a clumsy show, so that I was hard pressed to swallow the ending. For although the scent of thyme and the sound of pigeons took me to a wondrously alive place and held me captive, the characters on Womersley’s stage were pallid and flavourless in comparison. He has thrown them into the mix without first salting their characters. I wasn’t able to savour their emotions. Perhaps he forgot to season the heartstrings because he was too busy bringing the streets to life?