Julia of Aquilan

Julia, a young woman who belongs to an aristocratic family that has lived in Aquitania since Roman times, learns of a treasured family possession, a manuscript, that was stolen when Charlemagne’s armies conquered her homeland. She challenges her husband, Gianni, and her brother to lead an expedition deep into Frankish territory to recover the manuscript. Being exceptionally strong-willed, she insists on joining them. But the further they penetrate the dangerous and dark northern forests, the more events seem to conspire against them. As Julia says, “Every new thing that happens is worse than the last. What if it continues like this?” She doesn’t have long to wait for an answer … and it is worse than she could ever have imagined.

Julia of Aquilan is the first book in the Sweet Johannes trilogy. Book 2, Gianni of Umbria and Book 3, Brother Otho continue the story, one of many in the towering Paratge Saga that tells the epic, 12,000 year story of civilization in the South of France.