Beyond the boundaries of the town of Gost, Croatia, an old house which has lain empty for years is showing signs of life: Laura and her teenage children have arrived. As Duro Kolak, a local handyman, helps with repairs to the old house, they uncover a mosaic and painstakingly restore it. But Gost is not all it seems; conflicts long past still suppurate beneath the scars.

"A herbwife on a mule may go where warriors cannot—she may see what warriors cannot see and hear what warriors cannot hear!”The Monastery at Whitby is ruled over by the powerful and independent Abbess Hild. But when she needs someone to confide in, she turns to the honest warmth of her friend Fridgyth, the half-pagan herb-wife.A divisive and life-altering decision taken at the Great Synod is swiftly overshadowed as the monastery is ravaged by a deadly plagu...