A city in winter

Driven to avenge the murder of her royal parents and reclaim her lost kingdom, a daring young heroine and would-be queen journeys to the besieged city on the plain to seek out its evil conqueror, the Usurper. There she is befriended by two unlikely rebels who shield her from the Usurper and his malevolent legions, even while destiny propels her toward an inevitable confrontation - and the beginning of an epic battle. Mark Helprin's spellbinding tale reveals a city veiled in snow, at once divine and deadly. Evocatively told and beautifully rendered, A City in Winter will enchant readers of all ages. Stunning illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg lend a palpable richness to the pages, capturing all the exhilarating expanse of of the story -- from the pulse of the masses in the palace square to the wrath of the bloodthirsty Usurper who scours the city streets after curfew, to the opulence of an intimate dinner party set for a thousand guests . . . Now out of print, Mark Helprin's three novellas -- Swan Lake, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows -- are now available in a single volume, A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Complete Swan Lake Trilogy.