Suzanne Weyn brings her trademark mix of history, romance, and the supernatural to the Salem Witch Trials. Elsabeth James has powers she doesn't fully understand. She is descended from midwives, mind readers, and a fortune-teller who was put to death because she foresaw the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. She can hear people's thoughts and sometimes see what they see. She has supernatural gifts, but not evil ones.
When Elsabeth sails with her sister, father, and governess to America, however, she does not foresee that their ship will be wrecked in a storm. Alone for the first time in her life, she washes up on a South Carolina plantation, where she falls in love with a boy she meets there and learns magic and healing from an unexpected source.
As her powers grow, her stay is cut short, and she is sent as a servant to Salem, Massachusetts. There she accidentally allows an evil spirit to enter the village. When a group of girls start to say they're bewitched and accuse villagers of witchcraft, Elsabeth must find some way to save herself and the boy she loves.