Ursula Poznanski » Saeculum « 14+, November 2011 496 pages, 14.0 x 21.5 cm ISBN 978-3-7855-7028-9 soft cover with flaps 14,95 € (D) Rights sold: Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

They went into the woods to seek the Middle Ages and all the adventures, conundrums and challenges that would arise. Instead, the Middle Ages found them, and a terrible secret was uncovered.

Five days spent deep inside a forest, far away from the nearest village, to live the way people did during the Middle Ages, with no electricity, no mobiles, and not even matches – normally, this would not be Bastian‘s scene. His life revolves around his medical studies, but now he has fallen for Sandra, and she wants him to take part in this live role-play. When they find out about the location, one of the participants, Doro, claims that the place where they intend to gather is cursed. According to a legend, a Count once lived there. He had two sons, a legitimate one and a bastard, who was thrown out of the castle and forced to live a life of poverty, far away. When the Count died, the rejected son pleaded to be allowed to visit his father‘s grave. The rightful heir was afraid that his brother was seeking to secure their father‘s property, and gave orders for the bastard and his followers to be horribly massacred inside the family crypt. Just before he died, the illegitimate brother cursed his relations, the castle and the ground on which they stood. No one who enters this forest, Doro told them, will ever return. Of course, nobody takes her seriously. But then strange things happen and it is impossible to leave the forest. Did they make a mistake in not taking the curse seriously?

Ursula Poznanski was born in Vienna in 1968. After university she started as an editor with a publis...