The Perigord: a beautiful August day. Kind, well-respected young nobleman, Alain de Monèys, sets off happily for the local fair at Hautefaye.But this is the summer of 1870, a time of terrible drought and even worse defeats for France in the Franco-Prussian war. One misheard comment at the fair sets in motion an horrific train of events that Alain, for all his popularity, is powerless to stop...Based on a shamefully brutal incident from French history, Jean Teulé's riveting story shows how easily a group of individuals can turn into an irrational, bloodthirsty mob.