'A shimmering sexy thrilling tale of intrigue and desire and the dark paths we walk to keep
our secrets safe. Bell has written a shining debut' Kiran Millwood Hargrave author of The
Dance Tree 'A powerful atmospheric debut' Sunday Times Everyone connected to the court
of Louis XIV has something to hide. For the Baroness Marie Catherine it is the pleasures she
seeks outside of her unhappy marriage indulging in a more liberated existence of decadent
salons and discussions with writers and scholars. At the centre of her illicit freedom is her
lover Victoire Rose de Bourbon Mademoiselle de Conti the androgynous self-assured countess.
When Victoire's devotion results in an act of murder to save Marie Catherine the pair must
escape from the clutches of Paris' overzealous chief of police. As they attempt to outwit him
they are led to the darkest corners of Paris and Versailles discovering lies mysticism and
people with secrets they too would kill to keep. Fast-paced opulent and hypnotically absorbing
Celia Bell's debut is a love story to die for.
