***THE RECORD-BREAKING DEBUT AND INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*** ‘A work of quite staggering ambition. Detailed world-building, intricate plot, Gothic claustrophobia, wraps the readers in its dark embrace’ Daily Mail 'Very readable' Guardian In a world ruled by necromancers, a woman with missing memories threatens the dark order that keeps her captive - and the man sent to break her. Gothic in tone, epic in scope - this debut is destined to become a modern classic. Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner – of war and of her own fractured mind. The Resistance is crushed, her allies dead, her abilities suppressed. The world she knew is gone. Paladia’s corrupt guild families and their necromancer overlords, aided by vile undead creatures now rule - and hold Helena captive. Resistance records claim she was a healer of little importance. Yet, Helena’s inexplicable memory loss makes her enemies wonder: Is she truly insignificant, or do her missing memories conceal the Resistance’s final secret? To uncover the truth, Helena is delivered into the hands of the High Reeve – Paladia’s most feared and merciless necromancer. Trapped on his crumbling estate, she must fight to protect what remains of herself and unearth the secrets buried in her mind, her prison, and her captor . . . whatever the cost. ‘A superb dark fantasy novel set in a war torn world of black magic and alchemy’ Sun