Watermark - by Vanitha Sankaran (Paperback)

About the Book

"Watermark is a powerful novel about the destructive forces unleashed by ignorance and superstition. Readers will care deeply for the courageous Auda."--New York Times bestselling author Sharon Kay Penman Watermark is a magnificent debut by Vanitha Sankaran--an atmospheric and compelling novel about the search for identity, the power of self-expression, and value of the written word, set during the dark days of the Inquisition in Medieval France. Readers who were captivated by The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease or Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book will be enthralled by this thrilling journey to a colorful and dangerous past.

Book Synopsis

"Watermark is a powerful novel about the destructive forces unleashed by ignorance and superstition. Readers will care deeply for the courageous Auda."
--New York Times bestselling author Sharon Kay Penman

Watermark is a magnificent debut by Vanitha Sankaran--an atmospheric and compelling novel about the search for identity, the power of self-expression, and value of the written word, set during the dark days of the Inquisition in Medieval France. Readers who were captivated by The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease or Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book will be enthralled by this thrilling journey to a colorful and dangerous past.

From the Back Cover

The daughter of a papermaker in a small French village in the year 1320--mute from birth and forced to shun normal society--young Auda finds solace and escape in the wonder of the written word. Believed to be cursed by those who embrace ignorance and superstition, Auda's very survival is a testament to the strength of her spirit. But this is an age of Inquisition and intolerance, when difference and defiance are punishable "sins" and new ideas are considered damnable heresy. When darkness descends upon her world, Auda--newly grown to womanhood--is forced to flee, setting off on a remarkable quest to discover love and a new sense of self . . . and to reclaim her heritage and the small glory of her father's art.

Review Quotes

"Authoritative and evocative in its use of historical detail, this stunning debut novel will transport readers to medieval France where evil lurks in unlikely places and love endures. Like the river Auda, for whom the novel's unforgettable heroine is named, this story flows deep and dark and swift from its beginning to its powerful end." - Brenda Vantrease
"Watermark is a powerful novel about the destructive forces unleashed by ignorance and superstition. Readers will care deeply for the courageous Auda, who finds love where she least expects it, in the shadow of the Inquisition." - New York Times bestselling author Sharon Kay Penman
Watermark is a stunning debut --moving, compelling and illuminating. Vanitha Sankaran has magically captured the lost world of medieval France in all its social, religious and philosophical complexity, and done so with an admirable verve. Peopled with a wide array of compelling characters, Watermark is historical fiction at its best. - David Liss, author of The Devil's Company and The Whiskey Rebels
"This debut historical ... has potential for book club discussions and will appeal to readers of medieval historical fiction." - Library Journal
"A story that will keep the reader up at night..." - Laurel Corona
Sankaran deftly illuminates a time of intellectual darkness in this superbly rendered debut. - Booklist
"Sankaran has created a likable, easy-to-root-for protagonist in Auda." - Publishers Weekly
This engaging, clearly written novel pulls readers into a corner of the Middle Ages not often seen: fourteenth-century Narbonne, a city where fear and suspicion mingle with memories of southern France's troubadour past. The descriptions of daily life in medieval Languedoc are tangible, lyrically phrased, and at times chillingly realistic. In recounting one woman's journey to discover her literary voice, Vanitha Sankaran evokes a distant era with startling parallels to our time. - Sarah Johnson (Historical Novel Society, and author, Historical Fiction II: A Guide to the Genre)