It's the fall of 1965 when 28-year-old Sister Francesca is sent from her small convent in upstate New York to a large university in the Bronx to study theology.. She expects to face demanding professors and challenging classes; she doesn't expect to become entangled in the controversies surrounding Vatican II. What she least expects is a struggle with feelings of attachment to her colleagues and involvement in the mysterious death of her new Superior, Mother Ignatius. In the process of investigating her Superior's murder, Sister Francesca risks her life and must come to terms with the changing world around her, a challenge to both her faith and her vows.