​​The compelling historical novel of a young Irishwoman who struggles between the old Druid ways and the rising tide of Christianity. ​

​​This moving and subtle tale both embodies and confirms the enduring power of language. Gwynneve is raised in a village of fishermen and pigkeepers at the height of Ireland’s transition from paganism to Christianity. All around her, the new doctrines of Saint Patrick and the “tonsured men” are inexorably driving out the old Druid ways. When Gwynneve loses the two figures she loved the most—her mother succumbing to disease and her outspoken Druid teacher abducted by his enemies—she leaves her village and finally takes refuge in the convent of Saint Brigit.
Of her past life and loves, she retains only intangibles: her mother’s independent mind and love of nature and her teacher’s gift of literacy and addiction to truth. Clinging to the one constant and comforting force in her life—the power of words and their offer of immortality to those who set them down—she records her memories surreptitiously, interrupting her work of transcribing Patrick and Augustine. But disturbing events from the present keep intervening. Finally, her headstrong ways and growing criticism of the monastery’s new abbot lead to an accusation that she consorts with demons. The story’s tragic conclusion confirms both Gwynneve’s fears and her powers: centuries after she and her tormentors sink back into the Irish earth, her words remain to haunt and inspire us.​