The Fencing Master

In Madrid, in 1868, Don Jaime, fencing master and anachronistic man of honor, is working on his Treatise on the Art of Fencing. One day he is approached by a mysterious woman who seeks to learn the secret of "the unstoppable thrust," a supreme moment at the very heart of the art of fencing. All too soon he finds himself in the vortex of a plot that includes seduction, secret political documents, and more than one murder. Rich in historical detail of a decaying world that agonizes-as does fencing itself-over the ideals of honor and chivalry, The Fencing Master is superb literature and a true page-turner.