"The atmospheric novel set during the Tudor era of a young woman's struggle to define herself in a world of uncertainty, intrigue, and danger in a period of great upheaval In 1535, England is hardly a wellspring of gender equality; it is a grim and oppressive age where women -- even the privileged few who can read and write -- have little independence. In The Butcher's Daughter, it is this milieu that mandates Agnes Peppin, daughter of a simple country...

For eight of her sixteen years Carolina Mitchell's older sister Hannah has been a nun in a convent, almost completely out of touch with her family -- so when she suddenly abandons her vocation and comes home, nobody knows quite how to handle the situation, or guesses what explosive secrets she is hiding.