England, 1348. A gentlewoman is fleeing an odious arranged marriage, a Scottish proctor is returning to his monastery in Avignon and a handsome young ploughman in search of adventure is on his way to volunteer with a company of archers. All come together on the road to Calais. Coming in their direction from across the Channel is the Black Death, the plague that will wipe out half of the population of Northern Europe. A novel about love, class, faith, loss, gender and desire - set against one of the biggest cataclysms of human history.