Synopsis (from the book cover):
Set against the tumultuous backdrop of southern France, Sepulchre is the stunning new novel of obsession and revenge from the number one bestselling author of Labyrinth.
OCTOBER 1891: Seventeen-year-old Leonie Vernier and her brother Anatole abandon the gas-lit streets of Paris for the sanctuary of the Domaine de la Cade, some miles south of the medieval city of Carcassonne. But, in the ancient woods that surround the isolated country house, Leonie stumbles across a ruined Visigoth sepulchre – and a timeless mystery whose traces are written in blood. As she peels back the layers of the past, she uncovers the existence of a unique deck of tarot cards that are rumoured to hold the power of life and death.
OCTOBER 2007: Researching a biography of the composer Claude Debussy in the apparent tranquillity of the Pyrenean foothills. Meredith Martin also seeks the key to her own complex legacy. Armed with a haunting piece of piano music and a sepia photograph, she soon becomes immersed in the story of a tragic love, a missing girl, an unquiet soul, and the strange events of one cataclysmic night more than a century ago.
As the Feast of All Saints approaches – when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest – Meredith is drawn inexorably to a secluded forest glade where the secrets of the past are far from buried…
Review:
Recently my Mum lent me Kate’s new book to read so I thought I better read this one first. Sepulchre had been sitting on my shelf for couple of years in my pile of ‘to read’ books. I am glad I picked out the book to read, it was a welcome change from all the non-fiction books I have been reading recently. Although the story itself is fictional there are themes within the book that relate to history and other interesting subjects that can be researched further in a factual context. It is the sort of book I think is ideal for a book group because there are lots of areas for exploration and discussion.
An unplanned Tarot reading in the modern time-line leads back to the unique Tarot deck in the medieval time-line. I found the story quite compelling as it swaps between the two time-lines, eventually drawing them together for the denouement. The story is set in the region of the Languedoc, the history of which is described in such a way that I feel compelled to visit the area.
In passing the book mentions many topics including : Cathar; Visigoth; Albigensians; Occitan; Bousquet Tarot; Asmodeus; Temple of Solomon; Paul Foster Case; Golden mean, not to mention the mysterious Audric Baillard…
Well worth a read; a chilling story with lots of twists and turns set in a perfect location with lots of teasers for further exploration.
I don’t know how you find the time for all that plus weight loss.
Eating less means more time for reading