uses the wolf-girl Amara as a blank slate in an attempt to establish whether a knowledge of God is inherent in the human condition. Paton Walsh was careful to avoid making Severo a mere caricature; he is for his time an educated and thoughtful man whose intellectual horizons are restricted by his medieval faith. Thus he begins with humane discourse and proceeds to permit torture of his captive atheist to uncover "the truth." Much of the dialog the author uses in this section, and the details of the torture itself, were taken verbatim from the records of the Spanish Inquisition, who carefully wrote down their activities because they genuinely felt they were doing the work of their god by inflicting unimaginable agonies on their captives. Additionally, Severo's experiment is undermined by his underlings who incorrectly report the utterances of Amara as she begins to express her inner thoughts and conceptions. The real horror of the book lies in its depiction of well-intentioned people doing terrible things to those unfortunate enough to fall into their hands. Severo's experiment ultimately leads not only to the death or disillusionment of individual characters but also to the implied destruction of their generally well-intentioned society, by an avenging fleet from Aclar, sighted by Amara as she flees back to the wilderness. References 1994 British novels British historical novels British philosophical novels Houghton Mifflin books