Provence, 1347. Eleanore Blanchet is a young midwife and herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she learned the day her mother died, the most dangerous thing a woman can do is draw attention to herself. She attends to patients in her home city of Avignon, spends time with her father and twin sister, gathers herbs in the surrounding woods, and dreams of the freedom to pursue her calling without fear. In a chance encounter, Elea meets the enigmatic personal physician to the powerful Pope Clement. As his apprentice, she hones her skills as a healer, combining her knowledge of folk medicine with anatomy, astrology, and surgical techniques. Then, two pieces of earth-shattering news: the Black Death has made landfall in Europe, and the disgraced Queen Joanna is coming to Avignon to stand trial for her husband's murder. She is pregnant and in need of a midwife, a role only Elea can fill. The queen's childbirth approaches as the plague spreads like wildfire, leaving half the city dead in its wake. The people of Avignon grow desperate for a scapegoat, and a group of religious heretics launch a witch hunt that could cost Elea--an intelligent, talented, unwed woman--everything.
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