SEPULCHRE by Kate Mosse - SIGNED FIRST EDITION BOOK See all titles by Kate Mosse .
In 1891, young Léonie Vernier and her brother Anatole arrive in the
beautiful town of Rennes-les-Bains, in the Pyrenees of southwest
France. Born and raised in Paris, they’ve come at the invitation of
their widowed aunt, whose mountain estate, Domain de la Cade, is famous
in the region. But it soon becomes clear that their aunt—and the
Domain—are not what Leonie had imagined. For starters, Tante Isolde is
no graying dowager—she is young, willowy, and beautiful, but with a
melancholy air that suits the strange, slightly sinister Domain de la
Cade.
Leonie discovers that the house has long been the subject of
local superstition. The villager claim that the Devil walks in the
forests of the Domain, and that Isolde’s late husband died after
summoning a demon from the old Visigoth sepulchre high on the
mountainside. A book from the Domain’s cavernous library describes not
only the spell used to bring forth the demon, but the strange Tarot
pack that is part of the ritual, a set of cards that has mysteriously
disappeared following the uncle’s death. But while Leonie delves deeper
into the ancient mysteries of the Domain, a different evil stalks her
family—one which may explain why Leonie and Anatole were invited to the
Domain in the first place.
More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate
student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, a 19th
century French composer. Meredith finds a letter by Debussy suggesting
a connection with the town of Rennes-le-Bains and unable to find any
information in Paris, Meredith heads south. In Rennes-le-Bain, she
checks into a grand old hotel—the Domain de la Cade—built on the site
of a famous mountain estate destroyed by fire in 1896. Something about
the hotel feels eerily familiar, and strange dreams and visions begin
to haunt Meredith’s waking hours. A chance encounter leads her to a
piece of 19th century music known as "the Sepulchre" and pack of Tarot
cards painted by Leonie Vernier, which may hold the key to this 21st
century American’s fate…just as they did to the fate of Leonie Vernier
more than a century earlier.
What is the connection between Meredith
and Leonie? Do demons really haunt the mountains of the Domain? All
will be revealed when the Sepulchre is opened at last...
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