Heretics: A Love Story

Heretics: A Love Story
274 Pages
ISBN 978-1-59719-073-2

Set in the 1480s, this novel tells the tale of Shardana and Sarda—twin sister healers in Orune, a remote village in the mountainous Barbagia region of Sardinia—and their encounters with Antonio Albóndiga, a heretic-obsessed Spanish priest who is sent to the island after a series of unfortunate incidences in his homeland. When Shardana wakes from a troubling dream, she senses that something portentous is a...bout to happen. Life goes on as usual until Antonio arrives in town. The sisters welcome the priest, and their families try to integrate him into the village—although many are initially suspect and are not eager to embrace the stranger. Just when it seems that Antonio is ready to accept his fate and become a member of the community, he happens upon Shardana and Sarda engaging in a ritual with other townswomen and his inquisitional fervor is reignited. He brands the women as heretics and burns them in effigy. Will the twin sister healers and the villagers be able to transform the hate that holds his heart hostage? Or will Antonio prevail?

Mary Saracino

About Mary Saracino (Albuquerque, New Mexico Author)

Mary Saracino

MARY SARACINO is a novelist, memoir writer, and poet. Her most recent novel, Heretics: A Love Story (2014) was published by Pearlsong Press. Her novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006) was named a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Spirituality category. She is also a member of the editorial circle for the e-zine, Return to Mago. For more information about Mary and her work, visit www.marysaracino.com.