Part thriller, part love story, this marvellous debut novel is set in Spain in 1623.
Ricardo Marquez, a young Spanish priest, lives in Salamanca. The Inquisition demands the execution of those who question church doctrine. Yet many continue to experiment with the emerging philosophies in the fields of science and medicine. Ricardo is intrigued by these advances in human knowledge but has no idea of the tragic consequences of his fascination.
Ricardo's bishop is the inscrutable former inquisitor named Philip Orantes. The bishop is father of the beautiful eighteen-year-old Celeste, the object of Ricardo's passion. But Celeste has fallen mysteriously unwell with a wasting disease, and her treatment at the hands of the traditional physician Dr Vesula is only causing her condition to worsen. Forever alert to new ideas, Ricardo pins his hopes on a renowned doctor in Brussels named Jan Baptista Van Helmont.
When Ricardo travels to Brussels to find the reformer Helmont and save Celeste's life, deceit, fear and betrayal follow with unexpected results.
