Verpertine is the story of Artemisia, a troubled teen who was possessed as a child. Her parents thought she was wild and unrulily and locked her in a shed, and there she stayed until a nun, one of the Gray Sisters, found her. The spirit was exorcised and Artemisia was taken to live at a convent, where she was in training to become a Gray Sister herself. The Gray Sisters care for the bodies of the dead so that they may pass on. Otherwise the dead rise as spirits that may attack and kill the living. The convent is attacked and Artemisia is a reluctant and unlikely hero.
Verspertine is an imaginative story. The world making is very good and the characters are well developed. There is a lot of internal dialog, but the story moves long at a good pace. I didn’t want to stop listening, really liked the book and would have given it 5 starts, but the ending felt a bit flat . Note that the story is dark as it deals with possession. Vespertine is the first of a trilogy, though the story is self contained. I listened to the audio version and the narrator did a great job.