Out on 10 October 2024

The Map of Bones

Kate Mosse

10 October 2024
9781035042159
512 pages

Synopsis

The stunning conclusion to The Joubert Family Chronicles has arrived.

A sweeping and epic story of adventure and courage, injustice and triumph, The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse is the sequel to the number one bestselling The Ghost Ship.

Olifantshoek, Southern Africa, 1688.
When the violent Cape wind blows from the south-east, they say the voices of the unquiet dead can be heard whispering through the deserted valley. Suzanne Joubert, a Huguenot refugee from war-torn France, is here to walk in her cousin’s footsteps. Louise Reydon-Joubert, the notorious she-captain and pirate commander, landed at the Cape of Good Hope more than sixty years ago, then disappeared from the record as if she had never existed. Suzanne has come to find her — to lay the stories to rest. But all is not as it seems . . .

Franschhoek, Southern Africa, 1862. Nearly one hundred and eighty years after Suzanne’s perilous journey, another intrepid and courageous woman of the Joubert family — Isabelle Lepard — has journeyed to the small frontier town once known as Oliftantshoek in search of her long-lost relations. A journalist and travel writer, intent on putting the women of her family back into the history books, she quickly discovers that the tragedies and crimes of the past are far from over. Isabelle faces a race against time if she is not only going to discover the truth but escape with her life . . .

Painstakingly researched and beautifully told, The Map of Bones is the fourth — and final — novel of The Joubert Family Chronicles, following the bestselling The Burning Chambers, The City of Tears and The Ghost Ship.

Praise for The Joubert Family Chronicles:

'Historical fiction to devour' — Anthony Horowitz, bestselling author of The Twist of the Knife, on The Burning Chambers

'[An] utterly absorbing epic' — Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Paris Apartment, on The City of Tears

'Meticulously researched and stunningly written' — Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of Wait for Me, on The Ghost Ship

Mosse can tell a story . . . plunge relentlessly and breathlessly in alongside Louise and Gilles in their maritime adventure
Beautifully written and engaging from the first page, keeping you guessing until the end
A gripping, thrilling page-turner, richly imagined and impeccably told