
Set in the 1480s, HERETICS: A LOVE STORY 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 about to happen in Orune. Life goes on as usual until the malcontent Antonio arrives in town. The sisters welcome the priest, and their families try to integrate him into the village—although many of the villagers are initially suspect and are not eager to embrace the stranger, who is unable to speak their dialect. Just when it seems that Antonio is ready to accept his fate and become a member of this 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? For more information, or to purchase this novel, visit: http://www.pearlsong.com/heretics.htm or https://www.amazon.com/Heretics-Love-Story-Mary-Saracino/dp/159719073X.