David Cirici

13th century. Josep, a Mallorcan slave of Muslim origin, enters the service of Ramon Llull, a wise poet who will mark his destiny. Josep witnesses the transformation of his master, converted by faith and the drive to understand everything around him, leaving his troubled past behind. Through the eyes of Josep and those of Sister Auda, who meets Llull during this process of enlightenment, we witness the reconstruction of an era of spiritual obsessions, in which the pursuit of knowledge—the sage's vital goal—can quickly turn into sin.

The arrival of Llull and his disciple at the abbey where Auda lives reveals a web of secrets, jealousies, and heresies. Within the monastery walls, a murder occurs that turns the lives of all its inhabitants upside down. Only someone with Llull's lucid and obstinate mind will be able to unravel the truth.

L'escala de sorra (The Sand Ladder) is at once a historical, spiritual, and mystery novel in which love, death, lies, and truth intertwine at the hands of the most renowned Catalan philosopher in history—now turned detective: Ramon Llull.