{"product_id":"beyond-the-black-gate","title":"Beyond the Black Gate","description":"\u003cp\u003e‘Deeply felt and expertly researched, “Beyond the Black Gate” is an\nimmersive, heart-racing story of love and survival in a fracturing, vividly\nrealised, end of empire world.’   Howard\nCunnell, author of The Painter's\nFriend\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn\nthe year 409 the Roman Empire is collapsing. A young woman called Nehtan hides\nher enslaved status when she is rescued in Gaul by a resentful Patrician.\nThrown together on a dangerous odyssey through a land devastated by invading\nbarbarians, the two start to fall in love, despite the vast gulf between them.\nHowever, a brutalised member of the cavalry escort has recognised the fugitive\nslave and will do anything to possess her in body and soul.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Beyond the Black Gate’ is a compelling story of journeys from\ntrauma towards spiritual healing, set during a time of disintegrating identity\nand authority, with echoes of contemporary social crisis and migrant\nsuffering.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Unique\nand intriguing ... with a terrific richness of description. It’s quite shocking\nin places and Nehtan makes for a strong and memorable protagonist.’\n Gabriel Gbademosi, author of ‘Vauxhall’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e‘Mark Hudson’s book conjures up with uncanny intensity the\ncollapsing world of the Roman Empire to fashion a story that is by turns deeply\nstrange, gripping and moving.’   Roger\nCrowley, author of ‘Empires of\nthe Sea’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘The\ncharacters leap from the page. Mark Hudson pulls off the difficult trick of\nmaking his dramatis personae both true to their historical context and\nappealing for the modern reader. I was enthralled by them, and the dramatic arc\nof the story, from start to finish.’  \nSimon Acland, author of ‘The Waste Land’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘I\nwas gripped… A fascinating and vivid depiction of the Empire crumbling under\ninternal and external stress, when Christianity offers the only rock for the\npoor to cling to.’   Peter Popham, author\nof ‘India Be Damned’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Conrad Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55287612735832,"sku":"9781917673211","price":17.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781917673211.jpg?v=1777972545","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/beyond-the-black-gate","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}