It is twelfth-century France and, at fifteen, Eloise is married off by her father to a man twice her age. Taken to his forlorn castle in the mountains Eloise carries out her duties as a wife, but ultimately her true affection is for another. Thomas, a troubadour, journeys across the land to Eloise with his travelling companion, Babel, and years after the two have been separated their childhood love is rekindled. But with loyalties broken, men lost at war and the seasons rolling by, it seems Eloise's happiness cannot last for ever. In a tapestry of voices imbued with romantic passion, Leigh Sauerwein tells a medieval tale of doomed love, evoking the richness and texture, mystery and wonder of life in the twelfth century.