The Tarot Reader of Versailles
19 June 2025Imprint: Manilla Press
Synopsis
Two women. An extraordinary power. An explosive bond.
In a time of revolution, their fates will lie in the turn of a card . . .
It is the early days of the French Revolution and, on the streets of Paris, terror reigns.
Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand is a young woman with an extraordinary power - through her tarot cards, she can commune with the dead, revolutionaries and the aristocracy alike seeking her out to divine their fortunes. Lenormand is loyal to Marie Antoinette and the dauphin of France, but she has seen the queen's fate in the cards and must take care that it doesn't become her own.
Then, one fateful day, she comes across Cait, a scullery maid from Ireland who has travelled to Paris for love. Cait has powers too - she can read people's pasts as Lenormand reads their futures. The two young women share an electrifying connection, drawn to each other's abilities. But Cait is hiding something. What will she do - and who will she betray - to bring revolution to the shores of her beloved Ireland too?
Inspired by the astonishing true story of Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand, The Tarot Reader of Versailles is a sweeping, powerful novel where allegiances, betrayals and even fate itself can be forged or broken by the turn of a card . . .
*Selected as a Bookseller pick of the month*
Praise for The Tarot Reader of Versailles:
'An epic and engrossing tale, which holds the reader captive throughout'
Caroline Lea
'I was totally swept up in this epic story of fate and betrayal, love and intrigue . . . every twist left me reeling'
Danielle Giles
'Thrilling, compelling and beautifully-woven'
Aoife Fitzpatrick
'Utterly magical . . . feminist, fantastical and flawlessly imagined'
Natasha Solomons
'A sumptuous, ingenious tale . . . I was transported to the lavishness of the French court, to the wild beauty of Ireland, to the magic of myth and tarot - and I absolutely loved every glorious page'
Fiza Saeed McLynn
'Enchanting and captivating. I was enthralled right from the start'
Angie Spoto
'A propulsive, seductive story'
Kat Gordon
'Truly a rich tapestry that weaves together history, love, and a sprinkle of magic'
Catherine Prasifka
In a time of revolution, their fates will lie in the turn of a card . . .
It is the early days of the French Revolution and, on the streets of Paris, terror reigns.
Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand is a young woman with an extraordinary power - through her tarot cards, she can commune with the dead, revolutionaries and the aristocracy alike seeking her out to divine their fortunes. Lenormand is loyal to Marie Antoinette and the dauphin of France, but she has seen the queen's fate in the cards and must take care that it doesn't become her own.
Then, one fateful day, she comes across Cait, a scullery maid from Ireland who has travelled to Paris for love. Cait has powers too - she can read people's pasts as Lenormand reads their futures. The two young women share an electrifying connection, drawn to each other's abilities. But Cait is hiding something. What will she do - and who will she betray - to bring revolution to the shores of her beloved Ireland too?
Inspired by the astonishing true story of Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand, The Tarot Reader of Versailles is a sweeping, powerful novel where allegiances, betrayals and even fate itself can be forged or broken by the turn of a card . . .
*Selected as a Bookseller pick of the month*
Praise for The Tarot Reader of Versailles:
'An epic and engrossing tale, which holds the reader captive throughout'
Caroline Lea
'I was totally swept up in this epic story of fate and betrayal, love and intrigue . . . every twist left me reeling'
Danielle Giles
'Thrilling, compelling and beautifully-woven'
Aoife Fitzpatrick
'Utterly magical . . . feminist, fantastical and flawlessly imagined'
Natasha Solomons
'A sumptuous, ingenious tale . . . I was transported to the lavishness of the French court, to the wild beauty of Ireland, to the magic of myth and tarot - and I absolutely loved every glorious page'
Fiza Saeed McLynn
'Enchanting and captivating. I was enthralled right from the start'
Angie Spoto
'A propulsive, seductive story'
Kat Gordon
'Truly a rich tapestry that weaves together history, love, and a sprinkle of magic'
Catherine Prasifka
Details
19 June 2025480 pages
9781786582560Imprint: Manilla Press
Reviews
A complex, epic and engrossing tale, which is part emotive love story with a fantastical edge, part fascinating historical exploration of the French Revolution and part compulsive revenge story, which holds the reader captive throughout. . . . The voices of these two women who find themselves caught up in the heady and dangerous world of the Revolution are beautifully drawn.Caroline Lea, author of The Glass Woman and Love, Sex & Frankenstein
Utterly captivating. Anya Bergman's vivid depiction of revolutionary France, and the extraordinary women negotiating the vagaries of power, fortune and fate throughout such unrest and upheaval, held me in thrall from the first page to the last. An engrossing, propulsive novel.Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites
I was totally swept up in this epic story of fate and betrayal, love and intrigue. As the two women fight for their futures and ideals in a world in which everything is turned upside down, every twist left me reeling. Bergman effortlessly conjures the glittering excess of Versailles and the heady ideals of revolutionary Paris. Opulent and gripping, this novel is clear-sighted about the costs of revolution, and the people who get left behind.Danielle Giles, author of Mere
Thrilling, compelling and beautifully-woven . . . the startling, entwined destinies of Lenormand and Molloy unfold across Paris and the rugged shores of a restless Ireland - a gripping clash between love and honour. Bergman is - as ever - deft and masterful in evoking the timeless wisdom of mythology . . . this vivid novel sings with insight and compassion.Aoife Fitzpatrick, author of The Red Bird Sings
