An epic historical love story in the best tradition of 'The Name Of The Rose'. A monument to passion . . . A haunting story of lost love . . .
Zeal Beester is the mistress of Hawkridge Estate - a difficult position for a young woman in 1639 abandoned by her unloving husband, but almost impossible now that the man she truly loves has been forced to flee to the New World, leaving her pregnant. Just three weeks beforehand a great fire destroyed her house, and now Reverend Praise-God Gifford wants her burnt as a witch.
Rather than this, Zeal decides to kill herself. But when she is offered the chance to stay alive - to let the child live! - she takes it, and becomes the wife of Philip Wentworth, an ageing soldier and adventurer. Philip's extraordinary tales of the New World fill her mind with images of her lover, John Nightingale . . . to whom in her heart she stays faithful and whom she plans one day to find and reunite with. But now that she is married to Philip, how will John ever know the truth of her feelings?
'The Memory Palace' tells of the sheer danger of being a woman alone in days of violent political and religious unrest, and where there is always an unsuspected enemy at the centre of the maze, with only death in mind.
From heart-stopping beginning to haunting end, this compelling and suspenseful novel proves Christie Dickason to be one of the most gifted historical novelists of the day.