The Witch of Painted Sorrows

Narrators Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante perform this haunting tale of love, passion, and possession in 1890s Paris. Escaping her husband, Sandrine Salome Verlain runs to Paris, where she starts exploring her grandmother's four-hundred-year-old home. Sandrine's ancestress, the witch La Lune, haunts the house and possesses Sandrine--with tragic consequences. Ross portrays the women in deep, breathy tones while Gigante performs the male roles in a deep, smoky voice. As Sandrine morphs into La Lune, Ross's voice turns seductive and enticing, with a deadly undertone. With subtle emotional shifts as they interact with each other, Gigante and Ross seamlessly become their characters. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

January 26, 2015
This haunting tale of possession, set in 1894 Paris, from bestseller Rose (The Book of Lost Fragrances) inaugurates a new trilogy. “I did not cause the madness, the deaths, or the rest of the tragedies... I had help.” So says New York socialite and artist Sandrine Salome, who bears the scars of her first traumatic experience with love. At 15, she was caught, naked, with 18-year-old Leon Ferre. When Leon’s father learned of the nature of their relationship, he slapped his son, accidentally triggering a fatal asthma attack in the boy. Ten years later, to escape her treacherous husband, Sandrine flees New York for her grandmother’s home in Paris, where her grandmother reminds Sandrine that the City of Lights is “poison” to her. Sure enough, Sandrine finds herself taken over by the spirit of La Lune, the woman of “moon dreams, of legends and of nightmares.” Fans of literate supernatural suspense will be pleased. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House.