A Book of Lost Songs

In the late 13th century, a young Basque monk, Itzal, is sent on a seemingly meaningless mission--to gather the melodies of troubadour songs. His qualifications? His ability to navigate the many languages of Provence, his crude knowledge of transcribing music, and his guitarra Latina.

Along his journey, he acquires a band of unlikely companions: a dim-witted monk, a converted Moor, a maimed jongleur, a restless young woman, and a renegade German monk. Clever but unworldly, Itzal must navigate the fractured world of a land newly conquered--its wounded populace, barbaric invaders, and corrupt church superiors. Above all, he must avoid attracting the attention of the nobles, the Church, and, most dangerously, the newly established Office of the Inquisition, infamous for its prison for Albigensian heretics in Carcassonne.

Danger lurks everywhere--from the Church, local authorities, and outlaws scattered across the land’s ruined beauty. Along the way, Itzal and his companions hear tales of La Lobita, the great outlaw and woman warrior resisting northern invaders. As their journey takes them to the mountains, a region untouched by fifty years of warfare, they find that the greatest danger of all awaits.

A Book of Lost Songs is a picaresque tale of long-lost roads, infused with echoes of troubadour poetry. Laced with humor and tragedy, it chronicles one man’s growth and disillusionment as he confronts brutal acts committed in the name of his church. Itzal finds and loses love, loses and regains faith, and strives to uncover the meaning behind his seemingly futile mission.

Mark J. Mitchell tudied writing at UC Santa Cruz under Raymond Carver and George Hitchcock. His work has appeared in the several anthologies and hundreds of periodicals. He lives with his wife Joan Juster and makes a living pointing out pretty things in San Francisco.