An award-winning writer and music critic offers a fascinating account of one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages, the world in which she lived, and her enduring contributions to science, theology, mysticism, and music.

York archbishop Alexander Neville taps Abbess Hildegarde to accompany him on a trip to London, where she's to serve as his spy. Before they set out, Neville's saucier is found dead in a wine vat, evidently murdered. Set in 14th century England during the turbulent reign of Richard II.

Hildegard, no longer a member of the Cistercian order of nuns, has returned to the priory after more than a year from her pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Still unsure whether she will rejoin the Order, the Prioress suggests that a visit to Handale Priory might help provide some clarity. Used as a house of correction for sinning nuns, it lies in the north of the county in the middle of a vast wood and is run by the ambiguous Abbess Basilda...