A year of rain, a year of plagues, blighted rye, stillbirths, miscarriages, death…
The events are called Devil’s work, witchcraft, unholy, unnatural…
In the town of Greenwood, in the year 1680 the line between miracle and mystery, between magic and medicine, is blurred beyond all distinction…
In this year of misfortune, Four outcasts-- a vilified midwife, her child apprentice, a barren woman, an unloved daughter-- find their fates inextricably entwined.
At the heart of longing lies the root of scarcity.
Having survived the tragic and deadly events of Greenwood, the young Indian apprentice stows away on board a ship bound for London where her new, sometimes dangerous adventure begins.
Along the way, living in the homeland of the English, she takes on more roles than she ever could have imagined. She becomes a companion and a spectacle, a nursemaid and a mascot, a captive genie, an annalist, and, finally, her heart's desire--an apothecary.
But the stigma of witchcraft, the curse of Greenwood, casts a long shadow across the sea, but with it comes the chance to make right what went so horribly wrong.
Between longing and fulfillment lies the root of desire.