The Four Seasons of Mary

Bruges, 1787. A carriage rattles along the cobblestones. Two eyes peer curiously through the window. Sister Mary takes in the city: here lies a new future. She did not choose a monastic life in Flanders herself, but she will make the best of it.

Despite the closed monastery gate, Mary meets two men: the flamboyant brewer's son Philippe and the shy city clerk Simon. No matter how much the authoritarian monastery superior bullies Mary, she cannot prevent the young nun from developing a more than ordinary interest in Philippe. But Simon's enlightened ideas also stimulate her clever mind.

Against the backdrop of a bustling 18th-century Bruges full of trouble and unrest - the decrees of Emperor-sexton Joseph II are less and less appreciated - the dubious intrigues pile up. A hallucinatory denouement seems inevitable.

In addition to a real city history, Geert van Maele paints here above all a striking portrait of people of flesh and blood. A brilliant historical novel in a select setting.

GEERT VAN MAELE GEERT VAN MAELE writes with The four seasons of Mary
a strong historical story that stands on its own, but is also the first part of a trilogy, following on from The Silent Revolution of Mary and Two Marys.