The Gallows Curse

(Paperback)

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Description

The thirteenth-century is just begun and King John has fallen out with the Pope, leaving babies to lie unbaptized in their cradles and corpses in unconsecrated ground. Across a fear-ravaged England, the people are dying in sin. And into the Norfolk village of Gastmere comes a new Lord of the Manor - the cruel and blood-thirsty Osborn, not long returned from crusading. Spying treachery at every turn, he is prepared on the slightest pretext to damn anyone to hell and the scaffold. So when Elena, a servant girl, is falsely accused of murdering her child she is convinced her life will be forfeit. But there are others who will defy Osborn's brutal regime to save a girl who once took part in the secrets and strange rituals of the manor . . . 'A ripping tale set in the year of 1210. Full of colour and detail' Daily Telegraph 'Bawdy and brutal' Simon Mayo 'Maitland's richest yet- a breathless romp through an England rendered spiritually desolate. Bubbles over with the exploits of desperate priests, scheming herbalists, torturous conspirators, a dwarf-sized madam and a plot of treason against the King' Metro 'A gem of a story. Meticulously researched and told with blood-curdling relish, this is a tale that will keep you awake at night' News of the World

Reviews

A ripping tale set in the year of 1210. Full of colour and detail * Daily Telegraph *
Maitland's richest yet: a breathless romp through an England rendered spiritually desolate. Bubbles over with the exploits of desperate priests, scheming herbalists, torturous conspirators, a dwarf-sized madam and a plot of treason against the King * Metro *
Bawdy and brutal * Simon Mayo *
A gem of a story. Meticulously researched and told with blood-curdling relish, this is a tale that will keep you awake at night * News of the World *
A richly evocative page-turner which brings to life a lost and terrible period of British history, with a disturbing final twist worthy of a master of the spine-tingler, such as Henry James * Daily Express *
Karen Maitland neatly catches the spirit of primitive superstition * Daily Express *

Author Bio

Karen Maitland lives in Lincolnshire and is the author of The White Room, which won an Author's Club Best First Novel Award. Her latest novel Company of Liars is published by Penguin (2008).