Beyond the Black Gate by Mark JF Hudson

`Deeply felt and expertly researched,?"Beyond the Black Gate"?is animmersive, heart-racing story of love and survival in a fracturing, vividlyrealised, end of empire world.'?? HowardCunnell, author of?The Painter'sFriend?Inthe year 409 the Roman Empire is collapsing. A young woman called Nehtan hidesher enslaved status when she is rescued in Gaul by a resentful Patrician. Thrown together on a dangerous odyssey through a land devastated by invadingbarbarians, the two start to fall in love, despite the vast gulf between them. However, a brutalised member of the cavalry escort has recognised the fugitiveslave and will do anything to possess her in body and soul. ?`Beyond the Black Gate' is a compelling story of journeys fromtrauma towards spiritual healing, set during a time of disintegrating identityand authority, with echoes of contemporary social crisis and migrantsuffering.? ?`Uniqueand intriguing ... with a terrific richness of description. It's quite shockingin places and Nehtan makes for a strong and memorable protagonist.'?Gabriel Gbademosi, author of `Vauxhall'??`Mark Hudson's book conjures up with uncanny intensity thecollapsing world of the Roman Empire to fashion a story that is by turns deeplystrange, gripping and moving.'?? RogerCrowley, author of?`Empires ofthe Sea'?`Thecharacters leap from the page. Mark Hudson pulls off the difficult trick ofmaking his dramatis personae both true to their historical context andappealing for the modern reader. I was enthralled by them, and the dramatic arcof the story, from start to finish.'??Simon Acland, author of `The Waste Land'?`Iwas gripped. A fascinating and vivid depiction of the Empire crumbling underinternal and external stress, when Christianity offers the only rock for thepoor to cling to.'?? Peter Popham, authorof?`India Be Damned'?
Binding: Paperback / softback