First published 2000
Matilda has spent her life in quiet study and prayer at the manor, her days filled with books and devotion. When she arrives in a cramped medieval English village to work as assistant to the local bonesetter, everything changes. The narrow streets teem with people she has never encountered. The work demands skills she has never learned. Her new master expects her to tend broken bones and injured bodies, not recite Latin prayers or discuss theology. Matilda must navigate between the world of learning that shaped her and the rough practicalities of village life. She discovers that healing requires more than book knowledge, and that the people around her possess wisdom she never found in her studies. The girl who once found certainty in scripture now faces questions that have no clear answers.
Genres: historical-fiction, medical, coming-of-age
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: England, Manor, Village
Period: Medieval
65 pages · ebook · Clarion Books