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A Mortal Glamour
Amidst the many calamities of the late 14th century something sinister is at work among the sisters of la Tres Saunte Annunciacion, a force the women and the men around them seem powerless to fight. What is overwhelming both the holy and the damned? The true horrors of a dark age combine with ingenious imagination for a tumultuous tale of tragic love and disastrous desire.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
10 people are currently reading
372 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
259 books477 followersA professional writer for more than forty years, Yarbro has sold over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 31, 2011
In France, just after the Black Death wiped out some 30 to 60% of Europe’s population, a small convent of nuns receives a young sister named Aungelique. She took holy orders against her will and naturally goes about making as much of a nuisance of herself as possible, putting the convent’s new Mother Superior, Leonie, to the test.
Then a strange, seductive man shows up in the convent, and Aungelique is all too happy to welcome him inside. Suddenly the convent crops begin to die, the farm animals to eat each other. The nuns see strange things in the night and begin going mad with fear.
A Mortal Glamour moves slowly, not following a straight narrative so much as wandering over each nun, and the priests and soldiers who visit them. This is not to say the book is dull. Rather, it takes the time to set each scene and character, to detail each injury and sin, so watching the cast slowly rot inside and out is that much more awful. You want to yell at the cast to do something, but whenever they do, it’s almost always the wrong something. In particular, watch out for the coming of the Flagellants, a (actual historical) band of religious zealots that claimed the Black Death was God’s punishment for human sins. They marched through the countryside with whips, torturing peasants to death in the most heinous ways they could devise until soldiers stopped them or their bodies gave out. Their first appearance in the book, while not bloody (at first), is terrifying.
A Mortal Glamour is not about action or torture porn. If you are interested in people and the depths the greatest of us can fall to, in the darkest parts of human history, in stories without heroes, this is the book you’ve been looking for. It’s beautifully written and tense to the last page.
-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive
Then a strange, seductive man shows up in the convent, and Aungelique is all too happy to welcome him inside. Suddenly the convent crops begin to die, the farm animals to eat each other. The nuns see strange things in the night and begin going mad with fear.
A Mortal Glamour moves slowly, not following a straight narrative so much as wandering over each nun, and the priests and soldiers who visit them. This is not to say the book is dull. Rather, it takes the time to set each scene and character, to detail each injury and sin, so watching the cast slowly rot inside and out is that much more awful. You want to yell at the cast to do something, but whenever they do, it’s almost always the wrong something. In particular, watch out for the coming of the Flagellants, a (actual historical) band of religious zealots that claimed the Black Death was God’s punishment for human sins. They marched through the countryside with whips, torturing peasants to death in the most heinous ways they could devise until soldiers stopped them or their bodies gave out. Their first appearance in the book, while not bloody (at first), is terrifying.
A Mortal Glamour is not about action or torture porn. If you are interested in people and the depths the greatest of us can fall to, in the darkest parts of human history, in stories without heroes, this is the book you’ve been looking for. It’s beautifully written and tense to the last page.
-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive
August 1, 2009
A friend of mine said this was one of the scariest books she'd ever read, focusing on nuns in a convent, slowly being overtaken by their inner lusts, as they are tempted by a demon. It took me a couple weeks after I had finished reading it to realize just how much it had gotten under my skin, always a sign of something good.
July 2, 2018
I'm going to agree with Uncle Stevie and tell you all that this book is indeed terrifying. I'm not sure I know how to explain this, but it felt more like a book you wear than a book you read. "Wear" as in a suit of clothing that you allow to cover and enclose your body, and also "wear" as in a pair of spectacles that unavoidably transform the way you see the world. No, it's not an "action flick", and no, the descent into madness and "depravity" (such as it was thought to be) is not going to be graphic enough to satisfy readers looking for cheap thrills ... but like good historical fiction, it invites you to immerse yourselves in the lives of the people in the narrative, and I was both enthralled and horrified by all that was revealed to me in this amazing novel.
Those who say books like this are "boring" ... well, you know, that says more about them than it says about the book.
Those who say books like this are "boring" ... well, you know, that says more about them than it says about the book.
January 10, 2024
Probably should not have read this book, but Stephen King gave it a shout out and it was for sale for a nickel at the local bookstore. So I thought why not? This was scary at parts and I was creeped out in those moments. I’m also not a fan of sexual scenes, and this book has its share. What made this hard to read was the language and phrases used— very old and trying to fit in with the time period/Catholic setting. This is also a dark book, and I have a tendency to not like these kinds of gloomy books. I actually didn’t catch on to the twist until later in the book, and that was an interesting experience! All the puzzle pieces fit together at the end.
The rating reflects my own subjective, personal enjoyment of the work. It was not my kind of book, but I am sure someone else will find it more compelling.
The rating reflects my own subjective, personal enjoyment of the work. It was not my kind of book, but I am sure someone else will find it more compelling.
October 3, 2025
Dear God,
Make me a bird, so I can fly far, far away from this book.
I only finished it because I heard the ending was worth the wait. It was not. 3/4 of the way in, and it FINALLY picks up. But the ending fell flat. This was a waste of a month of reading.
Make me a bird, so I can fly far, far away from this book.
I only finished it because I heard the ending was worth the wait. It was not. 3/4 of the way in, and it FINALLY picks up. But the ending fell flat. This was a waste of a month of reading.
June 9, 2020
A bit slow at times, but it’s worth it as the ending really packed a punch. Creepy. A slow, detailed amble...
September 19, 2020
Read in 1985. An ancient evil haunts a nunnery.
December 31, 2021
This book is dark and grim. It’s a horror story, but also historical fiction. It is set in medieval France and focuses on a group of nuns and those who interact with them.
It’s slow moving, but it’s so creepy and disturbing that you can’t put it down.
I learned a lot about life in the time of the plague, the rack, self-flagellation, ring-kissing, and false confessions—most of which I want to quickly forget.
If all of these real life horrors weren’t bad enough…Yarbro throws demons into the mix!
Good times!
It’s slow moving, but it’s so creepy and disturbing that you can’t put it down.
I learned a lot about life in the time of the plague, the rack, self-flagellation, ring-kissing, and false confessions—most of which I want to quickly forget.
If all of these real life horrors weren’t bad enough…Yarbro throws demons into the mix!
Good times!
December 7, 2012
I'm giving this 2 stars, because its a decent historical fiction. You can see from it, that stuff is well researched. It all happens in 14 st France in the time of the plague, wars and civil riots.
Angelique is a daughter of a nobleman who only sees her as a means to further his family power. He want's to marry her to some old, diseased nobleman who has a lot of mistresses and bastards... She refuses and he sends her to a convent, to make her more compliant. And there our story begins.
She has no vocation, but despite that, they enforce strict (sick, more to the point) rules on her. Like feasting, starvation, lashing with a willow branch...Basically force her to get said 'vocation'. She has to walk naked on her knees and beg for bread and water!!!
And then, they are all in wonder why she run's away. Why indeed??
So far sounds interesting, right? As i said, it's a decent historical fiction. At first the setting in interesting and the story more that stimulating. From there, it doesn't really go anywhere for a long time. It bored me to sleep. You get all these discussions about God and faith and heavens and all that. Ok i get it's a convent... But I couldn't help my self from wondering were people in medieval times really so fanatically over-zealous? I expect them to talk about God when they have a mass or in the evening when they read the bible. But every single minute or every single hour is spent in grandiose and flowery declarations of ones piety, purity and faith?? Even when they are only thinking and nobody hears them, they are like that and invoke God in connection with every insignificant detail that they come across. To me that was the most 'horrific' thing about the whole book.
As a horror story, this just did not work for me. Most of the things that are supposed to be the source of dread are more the product of medieval time.
There really is a demon at work in that convent. From all the characters I ended up liking him the best. He has a quick wit and biting sarcasm and is really good (and cruel) at exposing false virtues. As the story progresses, you get a insight into other characters (nuns, nobles, church officials) and see how hypocritical, petty, ambitious, selfish, vain and rotten they are. So in the end I did not blame the demon for all the things he did to them. In fact I more like pitted him for all the c*rap he had to listen from them about how they are really NOT like that + all the flowery declarations.
Angelique is a daughter of a nobleman who only sees her as a means to further his family power. He want's to marry her to some old, diseased nobleman who has a lot of mistresses and bastards... She refuses and he sends her to a convent, to make her more compliant. And there our story begins.
She has no vocation, but despite that, they enforce strict (sick, more to the point) rules on her. Like feasting, starvation, lashing with a willow branch...Basically force her to get said 'vocation'. She has to walk naked on her knees and beg for bread and water!!!
And then, they are all in wonder why she run's away. Why indeed??
So far sounds interesting, right? As i said, it's a decent historical fiction. At first the setting in interesting and the story more that stimulating. From there, it doesn't really go anywhere for a long time. It bored me to sleep. You get all these discussions about God and faith and heavens and all that. Ok i get it's a convent... But I couldn't help my self from wondering were people in medieval times really so fanatically over-zealous? I expect them to talk about God when they have a mass or in the evening when they read the bible. But every single minute or every single hour is spent in grandiose and flowery declarations of ones piety, purity and faith?? Even when they are only thinking and nobody hears them, they are like that and invoke God in connection with every insignificant detail that they come across. To me that was the most 'horrific' thing about the whole book.
As a horror story, this just did not work for me. Most of the things that are supposed to be the source of dread are more the product of medieval time.
There really is a demon at work in that convent. From all the characters I ended up liking him the best. He has a quick wit and biting sarcasm and is really good (and cruel) at exposing false virtues. As the story progresses, you get a insight into other characters (nuns, nobles, church officials) and see how hypocritical, petty, ambitious, selfish, vain and rotten they are. So in the end I did not blame the demon for all the things he did to them. In fact I more like pitted him for all the c*rap he had to listen from them about how they are really NOT like that + all the flowery declarations.
August 3, 2007
A Mortal Glamour, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Juno Books, 2007
Set in 14th Century France, times are hard at the convent La Tres Saunte Annunciacion. The plague has come, killing many of the area’s residents. The Catholic Church has two popes; one is in Rome, while the other rules from the French city of Avignon. The convent is doing the best it can, offering a meal and a bed for any passing travelers.
Aungelique, one of the sisters at the convent, is a headstrong young woman, and the daughter of a Baron. She is there only because of a huge disagreement with her father over whom she should marry. Aungelique has discovered the pleasures of the flesh (a major sin for a nun), and runs away from the convent, twice. She wants to live with, and learn from, Comtesse Orienne, the most sexually accomplished courtesan in Europe. Each time, she is convinced to return to the convent by Orienne.
Soon, screams of pleasure and pain are heard from behind the door to Aungelique’s room, accompanied by bruises and scratches all over her body. It is as if she is being ravished by some invisible demon. She is ordered to fast, and keep all-night vigils, praying for God’s assistance, but it does not help. In fact, the "disease" spreads to other sisters, one of whom becomes pregnant, and dies in childbirth. An investigator is sent; he thinks that the best way to drive the demons out of the nuns is by physically beating them. He and Orienne cross paths; after a night of passion, he turns from an arrogant person convinced that he is right into feeling like the biggest sinner who ever walked the earth. The last resort for the authorities is to destroy the convent, and take everyone involved away to be burned at the stake.
An abridged version of this book was published in the mid-1980s. Here is the unabridged, author-approved version, and it is very much worth reading. It is quite dark and spooky (at which Yarbro is a master), and is a really well-done story.
Set in 14th Century France, times are hard at the convent La Tres Saunte Annunciacion. The plague has come, killing many of the area’s residents. The Catholic Church has two popes; one is in Rome, while the other rules from the French city of Avignon. The convent is doing the best it can, offering a meal and a bed for any passing travelers.
Aungelique, one of the sisters at the convent, is a headstrong young woman, and the daughter of a Baron. She is there only because of a huge disagreement with her father over whom she should marry. Aungelique has discovered the pleasures of the flesh (a major sin for a nun), and runs away from the convent, twice. She wants to live with, and learn from, Comtesse Orienne, the most sexually accomplished courtesan in Europe. Each time, she is convinced to return to the convent by Orienne.
Soon, screams of pleasure and pain are heard from behind the door to Aungelique’s room, accompanied by bruises and scratches all over her body. It is as if she is being ravished by some invisible demon. She is ordered to fast, and keep all-night vigils, praying for God’s assistance, but it does not help. In fact, the "disease" spreads to other sisters, one of whom becomes pregnant, and dies in childbirth. An investigator is sent; he thinks that the best way to drive the demons out of the nuns is by physically beating them. He and Orienne cross paths; after a night of passion, he turns from an arrogant person convinced that he is right into feeling like the biggest sinner who ever walked the earth. The last resort for the authorities is to destroy the convent, and take everyone involved away to be burned at the stake.
An abridged version of this book was published in the mid-1980s. Here is the unabridged, author-approved version, and it is very much worth reading. It is quite dark and spooky (at which Yarbro is a master), and is a really well-done story.
April 29, 2012
The convent La Tres Saunte Annunciacion in France is experiencing some tough times. It is the 14th century and the country has just gone through the devastation of the Black Plague which killed thousands. The Catholic Church has two popes; one is in Rome, while the other is in the French city of Avignon. They are both seeking power and are at odds with each other.
Seur Aungelique has been sent to the convent by her father for refusing to marry a groom of his choice. She is young and headstrong and escapes one night to go to the Comtesse Orienne who is very sexually accomplished and just interested in her own pleasures. Aungelique hopes to meet Pierre Fornault whom she loves.
She is brought back to the convent and under the new Mother Superior Leonie is given strict penances. Soon however moans of pleasure and pain can be heard from her cell every night. Degradation seems to slowly follow for the rest of the convent and the sisters and even the animals and crops fail.
This is a very slow moving story and the reader must have 'stick-to-it-ness' to keep at it. This is a basic story about good and evil. It was interesting on how the Church felt it should deal with this situation but this story was just too dark and slow for me
Seur Aungelique has been sent to the convent by her father for refusing to marry a groom of his choice. She is young and headstrong and escapes one night to go to the Comtesse Orienne who is very sexually accomplished and just interested in her own pleasures. Aungelique hopes to meet Pierre Fornault whom she loves.
She is brought back to the convent and under the new Mother Superior Leonie is given strict penances. Soon however moans of pleasure and pain can be heard from her cell every night. Degradation seems to slowly follow for the rest of the convent and the sisters and even the animals and crops fail.
This is a very slow moving story and the reader must have 'stick-to-it-ness' to keep at it. This is a basic story about good and evil. It was interesting on how the Church felt it should deal with this situation but this story was just too dark and slow for me
September 4, 2016
I've loved all the Chelsea Q Yarbro books I've read up to this one - it's just ok. Her amazing creations are the best part of her stories - Saint-Germain, Roger, Olivia - in this book the characters just aren't that interesting, and by a third of the way into it, I no longer cared. The good news is I've only read half a dozen or so of the Saint-Germain series, and apparently she's up to volume 27 :-)
July 24, 2009
The blurb on the back of this book is a bit of a misnomer as nothing seems to happen for the first 180 pages. It starts out as a historical novel about medieval nuns in a French convent. Very good but none of the carnality and debauchery promised in the description. Finally, the nuns are taken over by a demon and the fun begins as the sisters are slowly driven out of their minds by their evil lusts. It is an enjoyable read but doesn't quite fulfil.
January 27, 2008
Gekocht omdat ik de rest van mevrouw Yarbro's werk heb, en dat dit me helemaal onbekend voorkwam. I shouldn't have bothered. Een flutverhaaltje, bordkartonnen personages, het Frans en Italiaans dat er in voorkomt is akelig, het verwordt vaak tot slecht geschreven softporno, enfin: niet aangeraden.
December 3, 2008
Not a Saint Germain book, but very good.
January 7, 2013
couldn't finish
July 13, 2013
I don't normally quit reading a book before I finish - but I got sooo bored with this one I just quit. Nothing really happens. Boring.
May 26, 2016
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