The Unicorn Road - Softcover

'A highly readable page-turner' -- Guardian on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20061007 'A pacy confection of history, mystery and romance... a most engaging and unusual novel' -- The Times on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20061007 'An enjoyable tale of love, loss and taxidermy ... a cracking holiday read.' -- Observer on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20060129 'Two gripping, intercut narratives... a lyricism that captures the joy of the natural world... a highly successful and informative entertainment' -- Independent on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20060129 'An absorbing historical detective story ... a beautifully evoked narrative from the past' -- Guardian on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20060129 'Ambitious and intriguing... part thriller, part love story, part quest, this is a hugely readable book.' -- Spectator on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20060129 'This book haunts me: I was moved, intrigued and entertained and, with each page turned, I wanted, very much, to know what was going to happen. Economically and beautifully drawn, the enigmatic delicacy of the characters and the way the stories of the past and the present intersect so teasingly, so elegantly...deeply satisfying' -- Posie Graeme-Evans on THE CONJUROR'S BIRD 20050228

An old Englishman sits by a harbour inSpain, hoping each day to hear what might have happened to the son he last saw as a child, many years before. He cannot die in peace until he knows. Dominic was sent to the royal court of Sicily, as page to the great scholarAntioch, and travelled with him on an expedition to the East, from which they never returned. Gradually, through meetings with travellers, the old man puts together most of the story and now the narrative of the expedition alternates with his own. The mission to the East is shrouded in secret motives and mysterious encounters. The boy is befriended by the party's interpreter, Venn, and embroiled in an exotic, dangerous adventure involving lost Cathar treasure, capture by the unimaginably cruel Emperor of China and a plan to bring the Mongol hordes of the Great Khan west to destroy the culture of Christendom. And at the heart of the web of politics and deceit, Venn falls in love with a woman whose sad story he has deciphered from the secret women's language which really existed inChina for hundreds of years. As magically evocative as an ancient silk painting, this is a novel of the medieval world which illuminates our own.