The Devil's Diadem - Softcover

Douglass, Sara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007364245 ISBN 13: 9780007364244

Publisher: HarperVoyager, 2011

Synopsis

Sara Douglass has won legions of fans around the world for her epic tales of sorcery, forbidden love, and heart-pounding action. Now, with the The Devil’s Diadem, she reveals her biggest adventure yet.

In a world gone mad, is the Devil’s word the only one you can trust?

A foolish monk stole the devil’s favourite diadem and the devil wants it back.

It is mid-twelfth century Europe and Maeb Langtofte joins an aristocratic household to attend Adelie, the wife of the Earl of Pengraic. The earl is a powerful Lord of the Marches, the dark Welsh borderlands.

Then a plague that has swept Europe overtakes England and as life descends into chaos and civil disorder, Maeb is about to discover that the horrors she survived at Pengraic Castle were but a prelude to the terrifying maelstrom which now envelops her and all of her countryfolk.

Hell has come to desecrate England, and the only thing that can possibly foil its plans are the wits of one lonely, isolated and terrified woman.

About this title

Review:

‘Douglass excels in panoramic storytelling, combining faithful period detail with compelling characters’
LIBRARY JOURNAL on THE CRIPPLED ANGEL

‘This captivating historical fantasy ranks with the best′
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY on THE NAMELESS DAY

′Addictively readable ... a very big, very entertaining book′
THE AGE on GOD′S CONCUBINE

′Excellent writing′
BOOKLIST on HADE′S DAUGHTER

′A rich and complex novel full of rich and complex characters′
SF CHRONICLE on GOD′S CONCUBINE

From the Back Cover:

Bestselling author Sara Douglass—acclaimed writer of the Axis and Wayfarer Redemption trilogies—invites you to visit a twelfth-century England very similar to our own—except this England is a country on the brink of demonic disaster and its only hope may lie with a young noblewoman

The Devil’s Diadem

Maeb Langtofte is lucky, she knows, to have gained a position in the household of the Earl of Pengraic—one of the most powerful men in England, a man whose holdings rival even King Edmond’s. She is lucky that his wife, Adelie, whom Maeb serves, is a kind, pious woman (in contrast to the Earl, whom Maeb finds dark and secretive). But when word arrives that a plague is sweeping through Europe like a human wildfire, everyone in the Earl’s household is put on edge. It is whispered that victims of this plague are spontaneously engulfed in flames—as if the flames of Hell had suddenly leapt up to claim them. It is also whispered that the Devil himself is to blame.

As the disease spreads into England, so too does civil unrest. King Edmond calls his lords and their armies to return to London, and the Earl obeys, leaving Maeb and his family to fend for themselves. But it turns out that the Earl has been hiding far more than simple state secrets, and that his family, left alone, is at risk of losing not only their lives but also their souls. To her horror, Maeb will learn that, indeed, the Devil himself may have arrived on her doorstep. And worse, what he demands may, in fact, be running through her very veins.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperVoyager
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0007364245
• ISBN 13: 9780007364244
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400