WATERMARK by Vanitha Sankaran
Publisher Avon/Morrow, April 13, 2010 The year is 1320 in France,
and writing, reading, and the supply of
costly parchment are under complete control
by an increasingly corrupted Church. When
Auda, the daughter of a papermaker in the
small town of Narbonne, is born albino, she
falls victim to an act of superstitious
violence that leaves her a mute. Yet as Auda
grows into womanhood, she reclaims her voice
using her father's cheap “cloth parchment”
to write troubadour poetry about courtly
love.
Already shunned by the villagers as witch,
Auda continues to draw attention through her
unwomanly pursuits, from the interest of the
town’s lecherous Vicomte, to a secret band
of heretics, to the dreaded Inquisition
roaming the French countryside. Ultimately,
risking betrayal, torture, and even death,
Auda must decide how significant her writing
truly is in her quest for love and a sense
of selfhood.
In the rich historical tradition of
Geraldine Brooks and boasting the absorbing
period detail of Lisa See’s Snow Flower
and the Secret Fan, WATERMARK is an
atmospheric and compelling debut novel about
the search for identity, the power of
self-expression, and value of the written
word. 
“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
“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
“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.”
-- Sharon Kay Penman , author of Time and Chance
“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
“An addictively engaging novel, set at a time when reading and writing
bloomed—the dawn of papermaking. What book lover could resist?
-- Nicole Mones, author of The Last Chinese Chef and Lost
in Translation
“A beautiful look at the dangers of an intolerant yesterday... whose battles
are still fought today.”
-- Erika Mailman, author of The Witch's Trinity
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