Beyond The Black Gate

'Deeply felt and expertly researched, "Beyond the Black Gate" is an immersive, heart-racing story of love and survival in a fracturing, vividly realised, end of empire world.' Howard Cunnell, author of The Painter's Friend In the year 409 the Roman Empire is collapsing. A young woman called Nehtan hides her enslaved status when she is rescued in Gaul by a resentful Patrician. Thrown together on a dangerous odyssey through a land devastated by invading barbarians, the two start to fall in love, despite the vast gulf between them. However, a brutalised member of the cavalry escort has recognised the fugitive slave and will do anything to possess her in body and soul. 'Beyond the Black Gate' is a compelling story of journeys from trauma towards spiritual healing, set during a time of disintegrating identity and authority, with echoes of contemporary social crisis and migrant suffering.