The Black Plague is devastating England in the year 1348. In a desperate effort to outrun the
Plague, Camelot, a peddler with a scarred face who sells false religious relics and hope, sets out
on a cross-country trip. He is joined by nine strangers, each of whom seems to have a devastating
secret. Among the travelers is Rodrigo, a minstrel; Jofre, his pupil; Zophiel, a magician; Adela
and Osmond, an artist and his pregnant wife; Pleasance, a midwife herbalist; Cynan, a young man with
a swan arm; and Norigorm, an albino soothsayer who reads runes.
As they travel cross-country through mud and rain, avoiding pestilent villages and superstitious
villagers, they gradually reveal their stories. But as their journey progresses, their number
decreases one by one, with Camelot's journey's end being the original home, which gives a
startling revelation.
Company of Liars is an intricately-plotted, gripping story. It is full of twists and
turns, with a final twist. The characters are intriguing and complex. There are grim scenes of
the bleak and devastated landscape with famine, and superstitious, terrified inhabitants. Maitland
has done comprehensive research in the medieval customs, garments, guilds and religion. The reader
is caught up in the spirit of the times.
Highly recommended....well worth a first and then second read to absorb what was missed the
first time.