Provence, 1347. Eleanore (Elea) Blanchet is a young midwife and herbalist with remarkable skills. In a chance encounter, she meets Guigo de Chauliac, the enigmatic personal physician to the powerful Pope Clement, and strikes a deal with him to take her on as his apprentice. Under Chauliac’s tutelage, she hones her skills as a healer. 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, one that could cost Elea everything.