The World, the Flesh and the Devil - Tapa blanda

Leaving her home in the sunbleached courts of Avignon, gently nurtured, seventeen-year-old Ninian rides into the darkness and strife of Scotland to marry a stranger.

Her path crosses that of Gavin Cameron of Kinveil, priest and Chancellor of Scotland. Laconic, ambitious and handsome, he is the one man the Stewart king dares to trust, the one man strong enough to save the kingdom from the civil war planned by the charming, implacable Archdeacon Columba Crozier and his bastard sun, Adam de Verne.

Tied by blood on one side and by an overwhelming - and forbidden - love on the other, Ninian, growing from her careless girlhood into a beautiful woman and an artist of brilliance and power, is precipitated into violence and tragedy, in which she, too, has a vital part to play.

Born and brought up in Scotland, Reay Tannahill would have liked to have gone either to art or drama school but fell victim to the traditional Scottish passion for formal education and found herself instead at the University of Glasgow, from where she emerged with an MA in history and a postgraduate certificate in social sciences. Until her death in 2007 she lived in London.

After a varied career - as a probation officer, advertising copy-writer, newspaper reporter, historical researcher and graphic designer - she was asked by the Folio Society to write a short illustrated study of Regency England. This allowed her to combine her interests in art and history and was followed by PARIS IN THE REVOLUTION, THE FINE ART OF FOOD, FOOD IN HISTORY and SEX IN HISTORY. Having spent twelve years researching and writing these last two books (translated into eleven languages), Reay Tannahill felt that a change was called for and embarked on her first historical novel, A DARK AND DISTANT SHORE, which was an instant bestseller. Her following historical novels were all critically acclaimed and included PASSING GLORY, winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year Award.