The novel “The Blessed” by the Englishwoman Joann Harris astonishes the reader with the unexpectedness of its plot. The events take us to 17th-century France, to the troubled period that followed the assassination of King Henry IV of Navarre.
Wandering performers. Clowns and the foolish. The freest—and the most vulnerable—people on earth. They depend on no one; they can make audiences freeze with fear and laugh. But no one will ever protect them from the powerful.
Juliette was one of them—she had been performing in market squares since childhood, fearlessly dancing on a tightrope, for which she received the nickname “Heavenly Dancer.” Tall, beautiful, independent, she attracted men. But her heart was given to the one she would have liked to forget once and for all—the one who brought her only suffering and disappointment; the one who betrayed her many times. He is damnably smart and cunning and won’t stop at anything to achieve his goal. But what does he want? Why is he starting another dangerous game? Juliette must unravel this mystery—because her little daughter’s life is at stake, and she loves her more than all the men put together—and even more than life…