Caught in the bloody English Civil War (1642-1651), Jayne Swift is a rare bird: a female physician who has declared neutrality in a time when sectarianism is everywhere. Even as she cures people, their families and their friends — or in one particularly memorable case, their royal commander — they do not readily believe that a woman could be the finest doctor in Dorchester. It is even more difficult for them to believe that she has not chosen a side in the Civil War; rather than only working for Royalists or Parliamentarians, Jayne endeavors to heal any wound or illness, no matter the political allegiance of the patient.

"How trivial Jayne's sudden despair in the hospital seemed by comparison, for it was not just Susan's strength that put her to shame but the strength of every woman in Lyme. ...If anything could revive her spirits, it was surely the sight of women proving ...