2006 NY: Putnam. First edition, first printing, mint, new/unread, flawless dustjacket, signed by author.

In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny.

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.

Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.

About the AuthorKate Mosse is the cofounder and honorary director of the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she was named European Woman of Achievement for her contribution to the arts in 2000. She presented BBC 4's flagship Readers and Writers Roadshow and is a guest presenter on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review.