In 14 ^th -century England, 16-year-old Edie (white) has been sent to the priory of St. Christopher, as a conversa (laborer); she'll work for the order, not join it. At the priory she makes a fast friend in postulant Alice. The Sub-Prioress, Agnes de Guile, seems to appreciate Edie's intelligence; that liking cools when Mason, the young man Edie loves, gets a stonemason job at the priory and they're caught spending time together. Edie, who hasn't told anyone that she sees sounds as colors, and that colors themselves deeply affect her, is assigned to mixing ink in the scriptorium, where her first time working with lapis lazuli sends her into a trance during which she has a vision. Tension builds across multiple elements of this lush novel incorporating gorgeous full-plate illustrations. Plague hits the priory and neighboring town and Edie bears witness to suffering caused by the disease and fanatical responses to it as she cares for victims. She learns Agnes, who also had visions once but denied them, is twisted and cruel, recently locking Alice in a stone tower for a small transgression. Edie's love for Mason is paired with growing resentment when he pressures her to leave, which would mean abandoning Alice and the sick and dying. Rising above it all are questions about the meaning of her vision, which she believes is pointing her toward a plague cure, in this riveting work that deftly blends the historical and the mystical. (Age 12 and older)