PLANETA PRIZE 2020

A powerful historical thriller spanning a century full of revenge, incest, and battles.
“Act like a lion. Strike like an eagle. Execute like a scorpion.”

1137. The Duke of Aquitaine—the most coveted region of France—is found dead in Compostela. His body turns blue and bears the mark of the “blood eagle,” an ancient Norman torture. His daughter Eleanor decides to take revenge and marries the son of the man she believes to be the murderer: Louis VI the Fat, King of France.
But the king himself dies during the wedding under identical circumstances. Eleanor and Louis VII will try to discover, along with the Aquitanian cats—the dukes’ epic spies—who wants the inexperienced kings on the throne.
Decades before the Duke of Aquitaine’s death, a nameless boy is abandoned in a forest by his five mothers. Perhaps a monster, or maybe a saint, the young survivor will become one of the most exceptional men of medieval Europe.

A captivating historical thriller spanning a century full of revenge, incest, and battles. A disturbing mystery surrounding three lives that will forge what later will be called Europe.

From the author of the successful White City Trilogy (The Silence of the White City, The Water Rites, The Lords of Time).