a madly imaginative breathtaking theological thrillerelle france rising out of the sea on a rocky isle off the coast of france the church and abbey of montsaintmichel have withstood the harsh northern weatherand withheld its darkest medieval mysteriesfor one thousand years until now now a young brilliant archeologist joanna has begun to uncover and explore secrets that have long lain buried at the sacred site for not even ten centuries have been able to obliterate completely the brutal treachery of the benedictine monk brother almodius or the misfortunes of the tenderhearted brother roman in his forbidden love for a celtic girl who survived ritualistic torture by the elements of earth air fire and water in an expedition at once metaphysical and archeological reality becomes an elusive dangerous place and it leaves joanna with no one she can fully trust from her married lover franois to simon the cosmopolitan antique dealer strangely connected to the abbey to guillaume whose passion for joannas work comes not unalloyed to the jealous archeologistand devious saboteurpatrick fenoy her science increasingly challenged by inexplicable mysteries in the embrace of peril joanna treads the ancient stones and arcana in the depths of the romanesque abbey at montsaintmichel as this prizewinning and artfullycrafted thriller unfolds frdric lenoir is a philosopher specializing in the study of religions he has published over 20 books and been translated in over a dozen languages violette cabesos has written one previous novel sang comme neige both she and mr lenoir live in paris