Author: suraj solanki
Publisher: Pencil
ISBN: 9358830751
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 43
Book Description
"Beyond the Gilded Veil: Love's Unyielding Journey, Where Resilience Conquers Adversity and Perseverance Ignites the Soul." Step into a world where love knows no boundaries and the human spirit triumphs against all odds. In this emotionally charged and poignant tale, meet Lily Kensington and Aiden Sullivan, two souls bound by an extraordinary love that defies societal expectations. Lily, born into a world of opulence and privilege, seems to have everything a heart desires. Aiden, on the other hand, struggles in the shadows of poverty, facing endless challenges. Despite the stark contrast between their lives, fate weaves their destinies together in an unlikely encounter. As their love blossoms, they find themselves standing at a crossroads of tradition and desire.
Beyond the Gilded Veil Love's Resilient Journey
Author: suraj solanki
Publisher: Pencil
ISBN: 9358830751
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 43
Book Description
"Beyond the Gilded Veil: Love's Unyielding Journey, Where Resilience Conquers Adversity and Perseverance Ignites the Soul." Step into a world where love knows no boundaries and the human spirit triumphs against all odds. In this emotionally charged and poignant tale, meet Lily Kensington and Aiden Sullivan, two souls bound by an extraordinary love that defies societal expectations. Lily, born into a world of opulence and privilege, seems to have everything a heart desires. Aiden, on the other hand, struggles in the shadows of poverty, facing endless challenges. Despite the stark contrast between their lives, fate weaves their destinies together in an unlikely encounter. As their love blossoms, they find themselves standing at a crossroads of tradition and desire.
Publisher: Pencil
ISBN: 9358830751
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 43
Book Description
"Beyond the Gilded Veil: Love's Unyielding Journey, Where Resilience Conquers Adversity and Perseverance Ignites the Soul." Step into a world where love knows no boundaries and the human spirit triumphs against all odds. In this emotionally charged and poignant tale, meet Lily Kensington and Aiden Sullivan, two souls bound by an extraordinary love that defies societal expectations. Lily, born into a world of opulence and privilege, seems to have everything a heart desires. Aiden, on the other hand, struggles in the shadows of poverty, facing endless challenges. Despite the stark contrast between their lives, fate weaves their destinies together in an unlikely encounter. As their love blossoms, they find themselves standing at a crossroads of tradition and desire.
The Gilded Ones
Author: Namina Forna
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 147499766X
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
The must-read new bold and immersive West African-inspired fantasy series, as featured on Cosmo, Bustle and Book Riot. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. "Namina Forna Could Be The Toni Morrison Of YA Fantasy." Refinery 29 Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed... "An enthralling debut. The Gilded Ones redefines sisterhood and is sure to leave readers both inspired and ultimately hopeful." Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Caraval "Haunting, brutal, and oh-so-relevant. This book will suck you into a world where girls bleed gold, magic fills the air, and the real monsters hide behind words instead of claws." Roseanne A. Brown, New York Times bestselling author of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin "The Gilded Ones is a fierce, unflinching fantasy that marks Forna as a debut to watch." Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 147499766X
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
The must-read new bold and immersive West African-inspired fantasy series, as featured on Cosmo, Bustle and Book Riot. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. "Namina Forna Could Be The Toni Morrison Of YA Fantasy." Refinery 29 Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed... "An enthralling debut. The Gilded Ones redefines sisterhood and is sure to leave readers both inspired and ultimately hopeful." Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Caraval "Haunting, brutal, and oh-so-relevant. This book will suck you into a world where girls bleed gold, magic fills the air, and the real monsters hide behind words instead of claws." Roseanne A. Brown, New York Times bestselling author of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin "The Gilded Ones is a fierce, unflinching fantasy that marks Forna as a debut to watch." Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken
The Crown of Gilded Bones
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Blue Box Press
ISBN: 1952457246
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
Bow Before Your Queen Or Bleed Before Her… From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series. She's been the victim and the survivor… Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers. The enemy and the warrior… Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head. A lover and heartmate… But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other. And now she will become Queen…
Publisher: Blue Box Press
ISBN: 1952457246
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
Bow Before Your Queen Or Bleed Before Her… From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series. She's been the victim and the survivor… Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers. The enemy and the warrior… Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head. A lover and heartmate… But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other. And now she will become Queen…
Between the World and Me
Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0679645985
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 163
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0679645985
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 163
Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone) NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.
Loneliness as a Way of Life
Author: Thomas Dumm
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 067403113X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
“What does it mean to be lonely?” Thomas Dumm asks. His inquiry, documented in this book, takes us beyond social circumstances and into the deeper forces that shape our very existence as modern individuals. The modern individual, Dumm suggests, is fundamentally a lonely self. Through reflections on philosophy, political theory, literature, and tragic drama, he proceeds to illuminate a hidden dimension of the human condition. His book shows how loneliness shapes the contemporary division between public and private, our inability to live with each other honestly and in comity, the estranged forms that our intimate relationships assume, and the weakness of our common bonds. A reading of the relationship between Cordelia and her father in Shakespeare’s King Lear points to the most basic dynamic of modern loneliness—how it is a response to the problem of the “missing mother.” Dumm goes on to explore the most important dimensions of lonely experience—Being, Having, Loving, and Grieving. As the book unfolds, he juxtaposes new interpretations of iconic cultural texts—Moby-Dick, Death of a Salesman, the film Paris, Texas, Emerson’s “Experience,” to name a few—with his own experiences of loneliness, as a son, as a father, and as a grieving husband and widower. Written with deceptive simplicity, Loneliness as a Way of Life is something rare—an intellectual study that is passionately personal. It challenges us, not to overcome our loneliness, but to learn how to re-inhabit it in a better way. To fail to do so, this book reveals, will only intensify the power that it holds over us.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 067403113X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
“What does it mean to be lonely?” Thomas Dumm asks. His inquiry, documented in this book, takes us beyond social circumstances and into the deeper forces that shape our very existence as modern individuals. The modern individual, Dumm suggests, is fundamentally a lonely self. Through reflections on philosophy, political theory, literature, and tragic drama, he proceeds to illuminate a hidden dimension of the human condition. His book shows how loneliness shapes the contemporary division between public and private, our inability to live with each other honestly and in comity, the estranged forms that our intimate relationships assume, and the weakness of our common bonds. A reading of the relationship between Cordelia and her father in Shakespeare’s King Lear points to the most basic dynamic of modern loneliness—how it is a response to the problem of the “missing mother.” Dumm goes on to explore the most important dimensions of lonely experience—Being, Having, Loving, and Grieving. As the book unfolds, he juxtaposes new interpretations of iconic cultural texts—Moby-Dick, Death of a Salesman, the film Paris, Texas, Emerson’s “Experience,” to name a few—with his own experiences of loneliness, as a son, as a father, and as a grieving husband and widower. Written with deceptive simplicity, Loneliness as a Way of Life is something rare—an intellectual study that is passionately personal. It challenges us, not to overcome our loneliness, but to learn how to re-inhabit it in a better way. To fail to do so, this book reveals, will only intensify the power that it holds over us.
Myths of the Mirror
Author: D Wallace Peach
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780988954229
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 588
Book Description
Twenty years past, the governors plotted murder. Ruled by avarice, they imprisoned the winged dragons of Taran Leigh in the black cells of a stone lair. Tormented by spine and spur the once peaceful creatures howl, immense webbed wings beating beneath iron bars. Those who raised their voices in protest were banished--skyriders, the men who rode the dragons--vanished to the distant mountains of the Mirror.Now, Treasa, the daughter of exiles, seeker of secrets, dreams with the lair's dragons, her heart torn by her love for the winged creatures and a man who masters them. She must choose her path with care. The lair's black -garbed riders sense the dragon's growing savagery. Yet one, Conall, longs to grasp their power, subdue them and soar, unaware that winged flight, merged in harmony, is his for the asking. Then, a curved talon rends Conall's flesh and dragon scale, rattling against white ribs and the world shifts. As hearts once parted bind, Terasa and Conall join forces to fight for the dragon's freedom. Alliances form, old myths are revealed and new myths are born.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780988954229
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 588
Book Description
Twenty years past, the governors plotted murder. Ruled by avarice, they imprisoned the winged dragons of Taran Leigh in the black cells of a stone lair. Tormented by spine and spur the once peaceful creatures howl, immense webbed wings beating beneath iron bars. Those who raised their voices in protest were banished--skyriders, the men who rode the dragons--vanished to the distant mountains of the Mirror.Now, Treasa, the daughter of exiles, seeker of secrets, dreams with the lair's dragons, her heart torn by her love for the winged creatures and a man who masters them. She must choose her path with care. The lair's black -garbed riders sense the dragon's growing savagery. Yet one, Conall, longs to grasp their power, subdue them and soar, unaware that winged flight, merged in harmony, is his for the asking. Then, a curved talon rends Conall's flesh and dragon scale, rattling against white ribs and the world shifts. As hearts once parted bind, Terasa and Conall join forces to fight for the dragon's freedom. Alliances form, old myths are revealed and new myths are born.
Love in the Time of Cholera (Illustrated Edition)
Author: Gabriel García Márquez
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0593310853
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 473
Book Description
A beautifully packaged edition of one of García Márquez's most beloved novels, with never-before-seen color illustrations by the Chilean artist Luisa Rivera and an interior design created by the author's son, Gonzalo García Barcha. In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs—yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0593310853
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 473
Book Description
A beautifully packaged edition of one of García Márquez's most beloved novels, with never-before-seen color illustrations by the Chilean artist Luisa Rivera and an interior design created by the author's son, Gonzalo García Barcha. In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs—yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty years, nine months, and four days after he first declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.
The Complete Poetry of James Hearst
Author: James Hearst
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 576
Book Description
Part of the regionalist movement that included Grant Wood, Paul Engle, Hamlin Garland, and Jay G. Sigmund, James Hearst helped create what Iowa novelist Ruth Suckow called a poetry of place. A lifelong Iowa farner, Hearst began writing poetry at age nineteen and eventually wrote thirteen books of poems, a novel, short stories, cantatas, and essays, which gained him a devoted following Many of his poems were published in the regionalist periodicals of the time, including the Midland, and by the great regional presses, including Carroll Coleman's Prairie Press. Drawing on his experiences as a farmer, Hearst wrote with a distinct voice of rural life and its joys and conflicts, of his own battles with physical and emotional pain (he was partially paralyzed in a farm accident), and of his own place in the world. His clear eye offered a vision of the midwestern agrarian life that was sympathetic but not sentimental - a people and an art rooted in place.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 576
Book Description
Part of the regionalist movement that included Grant Wood, Paul Engle, Hamlin Garland, and Jay G. Sigmund, James Hearst helped create what Iowa novelist Ruth Suckow called a poetry of place. A lifelong Iowa farner, Hearst began writing poetry at age nineteen and eventually wrote thirteen books of poems, a novel, short stories, cantatas, and essays, which gained him a devoted following Many of his poems were published in the regionalist periodicals of the time, including the Midland, and by the great regional presses, including Carroll Coleman's Prairie Press. Drawing on his experiences as a farmer, Hearst wrote with a distinct voice of rural life and its joys and conflicts, of his own battles with physical and emotional pain (he was partially paralyzed in a farm accident), and of his own place in the world. His clear eye offered a vision of the midwestern agrarian life that was sympathetic but not sentimental - a people and an art rooted in place.
The Lost Wife
Author: Alyson Richman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101552549
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
A rapturous novel of star-crossed love in a time of war—from the international bestselling author of The Secret of Clouds. During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, who is studying medicine, fall in love. With the promise of a better future, they marry—only to have their dreams shattered by the imminent Nazi invasion. Like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war. Now a successful obstetrician in America, Josef has never forgotten the wife he believes died in the war. But in the Nazi ghetto of Terezín, Lenka survived, relying on her skills as an artist and the memories of a husband she would never see again. Then, decades later and thousands of miles away, an unexpected encounter in New York leads to an inescapable glance of recognition, and the realization that providence has given Lenka and Josef one more chance. From the glamorous ease of life in Prague before the occupation to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the power of first love, the resilience of the human spirit, and our capacity to remember.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101552549
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369
Book Description
A rapturous novel of star-crossed love in a time of war—from the international bestselling author of The Secret of Clouds. During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, who is studying medicine, fall in love. With the promise of a better future, they marry—only to have their dreams shattered by the imminent Nazi invasion. Like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war. Now a successful obstetrician in America, Josef has never forgotten the wife he believes died in the war. But in the Nazi ghetto of Terezín, Lenka survived, relying on her skills as an artist and the memories of a husband she would never see again. Then, decades later and thousands of miles away, an unexpected encounter in New York leads to an inescapable glance of recognition, and the realization that providence has given Lenka and Josef one more chance. From the glamorous ease of life in Prague before the occupation to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the power of first love, the resilience of the human spirit, and our capacity to remember.
The Bedlam Stacks
Author: Natasha Pulley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 140887847X
Category : Blessing and cursing
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
In 1859, ex-East India Company smuggler Merrick Tremayne is trapped at home in Cornwall after sustaining an injury that almost cost him his leg. When the India Office recruits Merrick for an expedition to fetch quinine--essential for the treatment of malaria--from deep within Peru, he knows it's a terrible idea. Nearly every able-bodied expeditionary who's made the attempt has died, and he can barely walk. But Merrick is desperate to escape the strange events plaguing his family's crumbling estate, so he sets off, against his better judgment, for the edge of the Amazon. There he meets Raphael, a priest around whom the villagers spin unsettling stories of impossible disappearances, cursed woods, and living stone. Merrick must separate truth from fairy tale, and gradually he realizes that Raphael is the key to a secret which will prove more valuable than quinine.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 140887847X
Category : Blessing and cursing
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Book Description
In 1859, ex-East India Company smuggler Merrick Tremayne is trapped at home in Cornwall after sustaining an injury that almost cost him his leg. When the India Office recruits Merrick for an expedition to fetch quinine--essential for the treatment of malaria--from deep within Peru, he knows it's a terrible idea. Nearly every able-bodied expeditionary who's made the attempt has died, and he can barely walk. But Merrick is desperate to escape the strange events plaguing his family's crumbling estate, so he sets off, against his better judgment, for the edge of the Amazon. There he meets Raphael, a priest around whom the villagers spin unsettling stories of impossible disappearances, cursed woods, and living stone. Merrick must separate truth from fairy tale, and gradually he realizes that Raphael is the key to a secret which will prove more valuable than quinine.