In 1465 a simple pocketful of herbs could get you burned at the stake, but Luccia Alimenti, daughter of one of the legendary women doctors called Salernistas, travels Europe secretly distributing medical texts to midwives and herbalists. Despite dodging the Inquisition and battling the Plague with her beloved Irish godmother, Luccia finds love as well as heartbreak. Pushed to the edge, however, she must use her skill as an archer to rescue women being taken to the pyre.

With a long life extended by a potion from her mother, Luccia becomes a scribe, witness to the shift in power with the invention of moveable type. As an illustrator and apothecary, she joins forces with Paracelsus, the rebellious eunuch and father of modern chemistry, joining old knowledge with new, despite his being hunted by colleagues and the Church. Based on extensive research of historical events and actual remedies, this novel has been called "tremendously involving and impressive."