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‘If you like dark, atmospheric, historical fantasy, then this is definitely one for you’ Daily Mail
The Plague Charmer, by Karen Maitland, Queen of the Dark Ages and bestselling author of Company of Liars, will chill and delight fans of The Essex Serpent and Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project in equal measure.

‘A dark read … fear and hysteria are portrayed with claustrophobic skill’ The Times

Riddle me this: I have a price, but it cannot be paid in gold or silver.

1361. Porlock Weir, Exmoor. Thirteen years after the Great Pestilence, plague strikes England for the second time. Sara, a packhorse man’s wife, remembers the horror all too well and fears for the safety of her children.
Only a dark-haired stranger offers help, but at a price that no one will pay.

Fear gives way to hysteria in the village and, when the sickness spreads to her family, Sara finds herself locked away by neighbours she has trusted for years. And, as her husband – and then others – begin to die, the cost no longer seems so unthinkable.

The price that I ask, from one willing to pay… A human life.

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Reviews

A brilliant writer, with a real sense of history
Susanna Gregory
If you like dark, atmospheric, historical fantasy, then this is definitely one for you
Daily Mail
A dark read... fear and hysteria are portrayed with claustrophobic skill
The Times
A really good read... as much one for first time Maitlanders as it is for the fans
Bookbag
Karen Maitland is the go-to writer for gruesome medieval murk
Writing Magazine
Written in dark but engaging prose, it is historical fiction with an apocalyptic twist
Lady
You will feel like you have been there and witnessed at first hand the blend of horror, superstitious terror and medieval chaos
Jaffareadstoo