Drawn by a strange compulsion while on a business trip to France, wine merchant Joshua Bentham returns to the village of his holidays, Destin-sur-Sarthe. The village appears peaceful, but Bentham uncovers mysterious practices and a hidden past. For Madame Allard, who runs Bentham’s lodging, wields significant power in the village and has taken a distinct... interest ...in her new English guest. Bentham’s journey to understand the happenings revives his own childhood memories and fetches him to Frère Rentoul, who hints at Bentham’s unknowing involvement in the village’s customs. As supernatural events blend with reality, Bentham becomes a pawn in an ancient sexual feud, leading to a climactic revelation requiring him to confront his past and decide his future. Theo Hopcraft’s “Destin-sur-Sarthe is a mix of occult vengeance and dread horror and vividly portrays a village where past and present intertwine to reveal horrific that might have been better left to the past.