Illuminated
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Some loves are not made to last . . . Like Romeo and Juliet, Heloise and Abelard were doomed from the start, and their romance was destined to pass into history. Yet when sixteen-year-old Callie Martin discovers a diary hidden within an antique book, their story - and hers - takes on another life. For the diary leads Callie to the brilliant and handsome August, who is just as mysterious as the secret the diary hides. Their attraction is undeniable. As the two hunt down the truth behind the diary - and that of Heloise and Abelard's ancient romance - their romance becomes all-consuming. But Callie knows it can't last . . . love never does. Will their love that burns as bright as a shooting star flame out, or will these star-crossed lovers be able to defy history?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The discovery of an ancient palimpsest, a medieval Book of Hours written over an earlier composition, sparks a quest to unearth its origins. Sixteen-year old Callie interns with her uncle, an illuminated manuscripts expert, and joins NYU student August on a treasure hunt that turns dangerous once the book's value becomes known. Their search takes them from Manhattan to Paris, unveiling layers of parallel love stories along the way. Visionary dreams lead them to the centuries-old star-crossed love affair of Heloise and Abelard, and their tragically abandoned son, Astrolabe. Callie's personal quest to understand her long-dead mother ("I've spent my life... hoping she would whisper to me the way the scrawl in the margin whispered to Uncle Harry") feeds her yearning, while her keen observation of both healthy loves (Harry and his partner, Gabe) and destructive ones (her father and his numerous girlfriends) provides instruction in the promise and perils of passion, as her feelings for August grow. Though occasionally choppy, Orloff's (the Magickeepers series) combination coming-of-age, historical mystery, ghost story, and romance satisfies on many levels. Ages 12 up.
