City Of Crows
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4.3 • 19 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From award-winning author Chris Womersley comes an extraordinary historical novel set in seventeenth-century Paris
"One of the unrepentantly daring and original talents in the landscape of Australian fiction" Sydney Morning Herald
A woman's heart contains all things ...
France, 1673. Desperate to save herself and her only surviving child from an outbreak of plague, the widow Charlotte Picot flees her village to seek sanctuary in Lyon.
But, waylaid on the road by slavers, young Nicolas is stolen and his mother left for dead. Charlotte fears the boy has been taken to Paris for sale, for it is well known there is no corruption in a man's heart that cannot be found in that terrible City of Crows.
Yet this is not only a story of Paris and its streets thronged with preachers, troubadours and rogues. It is also the tale of a woman who calls herself a sorceress and a demon who thinks he is a man ...
MORE PRAISE FOR CITY OF CROWS
"Womersley is an astute observer of human nature; his dialogue is sharp; his prose sings. His seventeenth-century Paris is a stinking cesspool of debauchery: Hieronymus Bosch in literary form. This book is fabulous." Readings
"Rooted in historical fact this is a novel that entrances you, bewitches you and keeps you thoroughly enthralled." Pages & Pages
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
“What they call a witch is merely a woman with power,” says one of City of Crows’ mysterious characters. Mired in superstition and myth, surrounded by plague and death, France circa 1673 isn’t the happiest place to visit. But Melbourne-based author Chris Womersley brings it to grimy life with his knack for detail. Our window into this cruel world is provincial widow and mother Charlotte Picot, whose search for her kidnapped son leads to confusing discoveries, magical developments and danger. We love the space this book occupies, somewhere between historical fiction and eerie thriller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Womersley (Bereft) makes the early history of French witchcraft the backbone of this ghoulishly pleasing novel set in 17th-century Provence. To save the life of her last remaining child, Charlotte Picot flees her small village of Saint-Gilles after the plague kills her husband and two daughters. Just after leaving, Charlotte is attacked by bandits who capture her son. She wakes alone in the woods with the help of an old woman who pulls her back to life and gives her sinister powers that allow her to summon demons. Meanwhile, Adam Lesage is freed from prison in possession of a map that shows the location of a hidden fortune in Paris, guarded by dark spirits. On his way, Lesage meets Charlotte, who believes that Lesage is a demon she summoned to help retrieve her son. Fascinated and frightened by Charlotte's powers, Lesage agrees to help find her son in hopes that she too will help him find his fortune. Together, they travel to Paris the City of Crows and enter the dark, evil underworld of spirits and witches. Based on medieval popularity of witchcraft in France and the history of the plague, Womersley weaves a haunting tale of the drastic lengths people will go to achieve their deepest desires.
