Lucy Branch

Abigail Argent stands out: some admire her lean figure and beautiful dark eyes, but others notice that she always wears gloves and shudder when they know why. The ones that know her best notice her ability with metal…

 

Her particular talent lies in the colouring of alloys. She has a gift for seeing the beauty in a plain piece of metal and being able to draw it out. Abigail’s knowledge of her craft is academic as well as practical which is how she makes a chance discovery of a link between her own craft and that of her favourite childhood myth: changing lead into gold. 

 

This find intrigues her and gives her an excuse to start a new life in Italy. In Venice, Abigail continues to discover more about the history of her trade while making friends, and a lover, whose lives become inextricably linked with her own. 

 

Her unusual research and particular line of work brings her to the attention of a powerful group who protect a strange secret: the real history of alchemy. This group hold the key to a mystery of what has been happening to alchemists, and those suspected of the ability, from time immemorial. 

 

They see something in Abigail which they covet. Terrifying and thrilling, this is a testimony of being in the grip of people with fantastical views and extreme beliefs. Delving into the deepest secrets of ancient Italy, Abigail’s story will take everything you think you know about alchemy and turn it on its head.