In the small English town of Manningtree in 1643, when a newcomer who identifies himself as the Witchfinder General arrives, Rebecca West must quell the rumors of covens, pacts, and bodily wants to save the town's women.

England, 1643. In Manningtree, a town depleted of men since the wars began, Rebecca West is fatherless and husbandless. The drudgery of her days is livened only occasionally by her infatuation with the handsome young clerk John Edes. Then Matthew Hopkins arrives: a pious figure dressed from head to toe in black. He takes over the Thorn Inn and begins to ask questions about what the women on the margins of this diminished community are up to. Dangerous rumors of covens, pacts, and bodily wants have begun to hang over women like Rebecca-- and the future is as frightening as it is thrilling.-- adapted from jacket