From the author that brought us Etched in Stone, Veronique Wallrapp sweeps us back into the drama of 18th century France.

For the last year, Ava has tried to integrate into a country and century not her own. She's discovered love and friendship here; but with the arrival of her son Armand, and less than a year left before the Storming of the Bastille, crucial decisions must be made.

Every road she and Gabriel take leads to ashes; as failure, conspiracy and the insidious Commandant des Rochefort follow them from the breathtaking cliffs and beaches of Brittany to Paris; where simmering beneath the glamour of France's capital, one can taste the acrid tang of resentment at the Ancient Regime's legacy of tyranny.

As the shadow of the guillotine looms closer and the lives of those around her are irrevocably altered, Ava questions her ability to change the future and keep her loved ones safe. Surrounded by peril, while the Third Estate burns their oppressors' homes to the ground, Ava must decide whether to pursue a quest that is increasingly more impossible, or focus on protecting the life of her husband and child.