Over a hundred years ago, the citizens of F- did something rather bad. And local school teacher Catherine Evans has made writing the definitive account of what happened when Ilsbeth Clark drowned in the well her life's work. But then a childhood friend returns to F -. Elena is a successful author, who announces her intention to write a book about Ilsbeth, focusing on the natural magic she believes she possessed. Elena has everything Catherine has not, like a platform and connections, and no one seems to care that Elena's book will be pure speculation, tainting Ilsbeth's memory rather than preserving it. Catherine is determined that something must be done and plots to blunt her rival's pen. However she had not allowed for the fact that the past might not be so dead after all. Before summer's over, one woman will be dead, the other accused of murder...but is she really guilty, or are there other forces at work? And who was Ilsbeth Clark, really? An innocent? A witch? Or something else entirely?