內容簡介
Fleetwood Shuttleworth今年17歲，已婚，第四次懷孕，但前幾次懷孕都沒有好結果，至今尚無存活下來的孩子，丈夫Richard焦急著想要一個繼承人。命運捉弄，Fleetwood某天看到了為她接生第三個孩子的丈夫來信，才發現她肚子裡的這個孩子也沒有存活的機會。
Fleetwood卻也巧合遇見了一個接生婆Alice Gray，Alice保證要幫助她產下一個健康的寶寶來證明前幾個接生的醫生都是錯的，原以為找到希望的同時，Alice卻被指控使用巫術，把希望放在她身上的Fleetwood想盡辦法來幫助Alice脫困。
兩人的命運從此糾纏，審判的時間近了，Fleetwood的肚子也一天一天大了起來，時間眼看就要不夠了，她們的命運都危在旦夕……只有她們知道真相，只有她們可以拯救彼此。
To save her child, she will trust a stranger. To protect a secret, she must risk her life . . .
Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy.
Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong.
As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the North-West, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye?
Soon the two women's lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood's stomach continues to grow. Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake.
Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.
'Assured and alluring, this beautiful tale of women and witchcraft and the fight against power was a delight from start to finish' Jessie Burton, author of THE MINIATURIST
'I read this in just over a day - I was completely hooked! An intriguing story about a fascinating period of history and brilliant female characters' Libby Page, author of THE LIDO
'A wonderful novel, enthralling, spellbinding, terrifying, full of twists and turns, written with heart and style - and the final chapters will have you racing to the end' Kate Williams, author of THE STORMS OF WAR
