It's 1689.
Sixteen-year-old Julie de Maupin is on the run in France with her boyfriend, a young swordmaster named Sérannes. They perform sword fights and songs in taverns to survive.
But when a diabolical creature kills Sérannes, it also injures Julie in the attack. Her devastating wound plunges her into the dangerous world of French magic. She learns the creature is controlled by a necromantic coven called the Shadow Holders. Defeated during the Affair of the Poisons, they've returned with more powerful allies to crush Louis XIV and terrorize France.
With her found family of magical and moggie misfits, Julie must use her sword, wit, and gender-bending wiles to send the threat back to Hell. Will they be enough?
Magic is illegal, and so is dueling. But that won't stop La Maupin.
An exciting new page-turner from multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Maria Alexander.
Autorentext
Maria Alexander is a produced screenwriter, games writer, virtual world designer, award-winning copywriter, prolific fiction writer, and poet. Since 1999, her stories have appeared in acclaimed publications and anthologies.
Her debut novel, Mr. Wicker, won the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Publisher's Weekly called it, "(a) splendid, bittersweet ode to the ghosts of childhood," while Library Journal hailed it in a Starred Review as "a horror novel to anticipate." Her breakout YA novel, Snowed, was unleashed on November 2, 2016, by Raw Dog Screaming Press. It won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel and was nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Children's/YA Novel.
When she's not stabbing someone with a foil or cutting targets with a katana, she's being outrageously spooky or writing Doctor Who filk. She lives in Los Angeles with three ungrateful cats, a Jewish Christmas caroler, and a purse called Trog.