RUNNER-UP Historical Novel Society New Novel Award. 'Assured, evocative, compelling. A fascinating reading experience.' Catherine Cho, Lead judge HNS. At five Katharina is placed in a convent. At twenty-three she escapes. At twenty-five she marries Martin Luther, the most controversial man in Europe. This is her story - of courage, resilience in the face of adversity and a determination to choose her own life. It is very shameful that children, especially defenceless young girls, are pushed into the nunneries. Shame on the unmerciful parents who treat their own so cruelly.' Martin Luther. Germany 1505. Following the death of her mother and her father's remarriage, five-year-old Katharina is placed in the convent at Brehna. She will never see her father again. Sixty-five miles away, at Erfurt in Thuringia, Martin Luder, a promising young law student, turns his back on a lucrative career in order to become a monk. The consequences of their meeting in Wittenberg, on Easter Sunday 1523, will reverberate down the centuries and throughout the Christian world. A compelling portrayal of Katharina von Bora, set against the turmoil of the Peasant's War and the German Reformation ... and the controversial priest at its heart. From award-winning historical fiction author, Margaret Skea (Historical Fiction Winner Harper Collins / Alan Titchmarsh Competition; Beryl Bainbridge Award; Runner-up Historical Novel Society New Novel Award), a well-researched and beautifully written novel that breathes life into the 'woman at Luther's side.'