Sold and abandoned by her mother at one of the "houses" of Terre d'Ange, when she was a child, Phaedra will learn the secrets of seduction and love. It will differentiate itself from other maids by its propensity to experience the pleasures in pain. It is marked by Kushiel.
Bought by a noble in fine intelligence, Phaedra will flourish in a home where she will sharpen his intelligence and learn to be a servant of Nahmaa.
Educated, familiar with the history, theology, politics and languages, its fate will switch when it has in its hands the future of his country.
Kushiel is a novel apart. It offers us the reading of a parallel world to Europe where values differ from ours, which serve the pleasure in the houses of the night is an act of faith and honor. It depicts a complex world, both distinguished and cruel where political conspiracies and power seeking mingle. The pleasure in pain is at no time and vulgar scenes are both scarce and sketchy.
It is difficult to get into this novel because of its complexity, both in terms of the characters of the plot, quite dense and complicated. It is true that the narrative is sometimes long, the profusion of details can sometimes drown the reader but it is also what builds a dense story, well written and exciting.
