Cathar

(Paperback)

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Description

How a world was lost. In this compelling historical novel, set in the Languedoc at the end of the 13th century, Franois de Beaufort, a knight and a Cathar, loves three women Blanche, Sybille and Beatrice. He is Cathar by birth, and ultimately by conviction, despite the unrelenting efforts of the Inquisition to stamp out this heresy through war, torture and the stake. After surviving two sieges Franois is sentenced to a pilgrimage of penance to Compostela, and ends up in the Cathar village of Montaillou. And then the Inquisition strikes again.

Reviews

Bland skilfully blends history with the engrossing story... The novel is rich in meticulous historical detail and background but it never interferes with the emotional pull of the story... This is one of the very best historical novels I've read this year' * For Winters Nights *
Beautifully descriptive and fast-paced, the story keeps a vice-like grip on readers * France Magazine *
A fascinating period... Bland has crafted a page-turning tale' * The Times *
This harrowing and moving novel spares the reader none of the horror and tragedy of events and captures this violent, tireless and merciless crusade * Sunday Express *
Moving and compelling historical fiction * The Bookseller *
The talent of some people never fails to amaze me... Christopher Bland has produced a splendid historical novel that has managed to enthral me for all of its 338 pages' * newbooks, 5 stars *
A fast-moving, well-told, and honest novel * Historical Novels Review *

Author Bio

Christopher Bland is a former Chairman of the BBC, BT and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is Anglo-Irish and married with a son and four stepchildren. His first novel, ASHES IN THE WIND, was published by Head of Zeus in 2014.