The Treasure of Montsegur: A Novel of the Cathars - Hardcover

Burnham, Sophy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060000791 ISBN 13: 9780060000790

Publisher: HarperOne, 2002

Synopsis

The year is 1209: A baby girl, dressed in a white silk dress strewn with pearls, is found in a meadow outside the smoking city of Béziers, where 20,000 people have just been massacred. Adopted by Lady Esclarmonde, the fiery Jeanne is educated in the ways of the Cathars -- the "pure ones," pacifist, vegetarian, chaste followers of Christ. But war is raging, and the Inquisition is charged with exterminating the Church of Love. It is a time of terror, with neighbor pitted against neighbor, and religious passions running high; a time of suspicion, burnings, and systematic genocide. Against this turbulent background, Jeanne of Béziers finds herself embroiled in the resistance, fighting for freedom alongside William, the man whom she loves -- and who is married to her best friend.

Trapped with William and more than 200 Cathars at the fortress of Montségur, Jeanne is asked to sacrifice her convictions for the security of the Cathar legacy. As the only person who can save the legendary Cathar treasure, Jeanne is propelled on a journey through the dark days of the Inquisition, eventually to a place where she discovers the true treasure of Montségur and her own destiny in keeping it alive.

This stunning novel of the Cathars, populated with real historical figures and accurate in its historical details, tells Jeanne's story of sexual passion, intrigue, mystery, and the search for love and God. This extraordinary woman will linger with you long after the novel's haunting conclusion.

About this title

About the Author:

Sophy Burnham is the author of several books, novels, and plays, including the New York Times bestseller A Book of Angels, which was translated into more than twenty languages. Her work has appeared in various magazines, including Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, and Ladies Home Journal. Ms. Burnham has worked at the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays.

From Publishers Weekly:

The extermination of the Cathars, a medieval religious sect settled in southern France that condemned the Catholic Church, provides heavy historic drapery for this somewhat lightweight novel. Having barely escaped burning on a pyre along with hundreds of fellow Cathars and Cathar sympathizers following a brutal year-long siege at the mountain fortress of Monts‚gur, Jeanne is on the run from the Inquisition. Posing as a homeless madwoman, Jeanne recalls her past as an impulsive, sexually driven young woman raised by the saintly Cathars. When a stranger, Jerome, risks his life vouching for Jeanne to the inquisitors, Jeanne is forced to live with him, or else both will face heresy charges. Predictably, romance ensues. This contrivance allows Jeanne to tell her life story, including her survival at Monts‚gur, amid snuggles and pillow talk. Jeanne's mood swings from brash, intelligent and determined to innocent and meek make her seem more disjointed than complex. Burnham, author of a number of books on spiritual phenomena, including the New York Times bestseller A Book of Angels, is at her best describing mystic and spiritual matters. Jeanne's spiritual transformations ("The soldiers grab me, strip me to the waist: my breasts exposed. They beat me with their leather whips, but oh, my Lady! Each blow brings only exquisite joy. I am transported, for I am filled with Christ and yet I gaze into the glowing eyes of Christ") feel vital and immediate. Despite its flaws, Burnham's novel is an energetic, psychological imagining of the Cathar legend.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060000791
• ISBN 13: 9780060000790
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288