Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London, now in his sixties, hopes to remake his life in France, and he begins looking at properties in the Cevennes region From the moment he arrives at the Mas Lunel, an isolated stone farmhouse, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion Two worlds and two cultures collide Ancient boundaries are crossed, taboos are broken, a violent crime is committed And all the time the Cevennes hills remain, as cruel and seductive as ever