The Devil’s Elixir, Vol. 1 (of 2‪)‬

A stranger brings a beautiful boy to play with Francis among forest moss and pebbles. Then the old pilgrim vanishes, leaving a warning: Francis must become a monk, lest his father’s sinful passions live on in him.

The story opens among the monasteries, ruined gardens and wooded riverbanks of Germany, where Francis’s childhood is shadowed by his father’s fall from prosperity and a mysterious pilgrimage. At a holy convent, visions and prophecies mingle with memory: a miraculous child is said to kindle divine love in Francis, while an unknown artist is cursed to create lifeless work. His mother hopes to let him follow his own nature—but can he escape the inheritance the pilgrim fears?

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Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.