It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts--or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore. As such superstition has it, Melmoth travels through the ages, dooming those she...

During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, who is studying medicine, fall in love. With the promise of a better future, they marry--only to have their dreams shattered by the imminent Nazi invasion. Like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war.

When college teacher Sarah Brandau is invited to a literary conference in Prague, she persuades her grandmother, Edith, who raised her when her parents died, to travel from Manhattan for a reunion in the fabled city. Browsing in an antique shop, Edith is attracted to a picture with an ornate frame. But when they return to the hotel, Sarah and Edith discover they got more than they bargained for - and are in more danger than they ever could have imagined....

In their continuing adventures, magician's apprentice Nathaniel, now fourteen years old, and the djinni Bartimaeus travel to Prague to locate the source of a golem's power before it destroys London.