Although she has never met him, young Eleanor de Buci is pleased when her father arranges for her to marry Henri de Metz, heir to the powerful Breton Lord of Radenoc. When Eleanor travels to his remote castle in the far west, however, her hopes for happiness are continually thwarted. Hating the Norman invaders, the Breton folk cling to pagan rituals and superstitions whilst scratching a bare living in a bleak and barren wilderness. Even before Eleanor encounters her ruthless brother-in-law, she must battle with their resentment and fear. Little suspecting that she will find treachery and corruption flourishing within her own household, when she meets Armand, Eleanor discovers that duty is no match for passion.

Set in Brittany in the early twelfth century, the first book of the Legacy of Blood trilogy introduces the reader to a tough medieval world.