In the wake of the Vernet murders in Aix-en-Provence, magistrateBernard Martin moves to the town of Nancy in Lorraine, France,along with his pregnant wife Clarie, who is as fervent about Republican ideals as her husband. They are not in Nancy longwhen an infant boy is found dead, his tiny body mutilated. Thewet nurse and mother say that this was a case of 'œritual sacrifice'by a 'œwandering tinker,' or Jew. Yet as Bernard delves deeper into the different personalitiessurrounding the case, he struggles to reconcile his Republicanbeliefs with the subtle nuances of Nancy's Jewish Diaspora, allwhile balancing the racial tensions and politics within the courthouse. Meanwhile his beloved Clarie, now reeling from the deathof her own child, seems to be falling prey to the propaganda being spewed throughout town, forcing Bernard to acknowledge thefrailties of the human psyche. Fearing a vigilante mob sparkedby the church, Bernard must unveil the murderers before Nancyexperiences her own pogrom.

Barbara Corrado Pope is a historian and the founding director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Oregon. She is the author of the novels Cézanne’s Quarry and The Blood of Lorraine.  Barbara lives in Eugene, Oregon, with her husband.