Troubadour

Early in the thirteenth century, Elinor's parents attempt to marry her off to an elderly nobleman. She is so repulsed by the idea that she escapes the castle, disguised as a boy, with a troupe of travelling entertainers.

As she tours the Midi, rumours of heresy abound and Elinor becomes increasingly aware that a terrible war is imminent as the Pope recruits knights from the north to lay waste to the lands of southern lords who sympathise with and protect the heretics.

A well-researched tale, based on the brutal conflict between Papists and Cathars in Medieval France, which is rich in historical detail and underlain by personal stories of love and loss.