Inside cover reads:
When the procession came close, Adam pulled the hood down further and covered his face with his arm. "Queen Jadwiga," he called hoarsely, "I need a miracle."
Suddenly, his hood was thrown back to reveal his disfigured face. Adam could see the horror in the queen's eyes as she recoiled from him and crumpled across the seat of the coach.
---
Adam's mother, Danusha, has always tried to hide him from the world, protecting him from the serfs' taunts about his reddish teeth, his skin ravaged by the sun. Adam doesn't know why he looks so different, but he suspects it has something to do with his father, a nobleman whom Adam has never seen and whose identity Danusha will not reveal.
Upon hearing a monk's tale that the new queen can perform miracles, Adam lets himself hope that she can remove his ugliness. But when he emerges from his seclusion to beg Jadwiga's help, his deformities are exposed, and he finds himself at the mercy of a fearful mob who thinks he is half man, half wolf--a werewolf.
Adam suffers greatly as he seeks the key to his affliction and his true identity. But his suffering leads to wisdom and in the triumphant conclusion he emerges not as a victim, but as a victor.
Set in Poland in the Middle Ages, a time of great faith and fearsome superstition, this is a haunting tale of suspense and romance, of a mother and son whose destinies were both linked to the mysterious nobleman who always wore a leather mask.
***
This is a quick read and nice for when you need a story to sink into for a short time. The character of Adam suffers from erythropoietic porphyria, a very rare inherited disease.
When the procession came close, Adam pulled the hood down further and covered his face with his arm. "Queen Jadwiga," he called hoarsely, "I need a miracle."
Suddenly, his hood was thrown back to reveal his disfigured face. Adam could see the horror in the queen's eyes as she recoiled from him and crumpled across the seat of the coach.
---
Adam's mother, Danusha, has always tried to hide him from the world, protecting him from the serfs' taunts about his reddish teeth, his skin ravaged by the sun. Adam doesn't know why he looks so different, but he suspects it has something to do with his father, a nobleman whom Adam has never seen and whose identity Danusha will not reveal.
Upon hearing a monk's tale that the new queen can perform miracles, Adam lets himself hope that she can remove his ugliness. But when he emerges from his seclusion to beg Jadwiga's help, his deformities are exposed, and he finds himself at the mercy of a fearful mob who thinks he is half man, half wolf--a werewolf.
Adam suffers greatly as he seeks the key to his affliction and his true identity. But his suffering leads to wisdom and in the triumphant conclusion he emerges not as a victim, but as a victor.
Set in Poland in the Middle Ages, a time of great faith and fearsome superstition, this is a haunting tale of suspense and romance, of a mother and son whose destinies were both linked to the mysterious nobleman who always wore a leather mask.
***
This is a quick read and nice for when you need a story to sink into for a short time. The character of Adam suffers from erythropoietic porphyria, a very rare inherited disease.
