When Caroline Foster arrives at the Whitechapel Full Moon Society in search of her missing brother, she finds a dilapidated façade belying an interior as opulent as any exclusive gentlemen’s club. In exchange for room and board, Caroline is hired as the Full Moon’s maid. But when it is revealed that the previous maid was murdered --- an early victim of Jack the Ripper --- and her brother has left behind no answers, only more questions, Caroline begins to suspect her hosts might be hiding something. As more bodies turn up with a connection to the Society, Caroline fears she may have unwittingly stumbled into a bedtime story --- the kind with monsters and curses, family secrets and ancient lore.

Avignon, 1347. Eleanore is a young midwife and herbalist with remarkable skills. But as she learned the day her mother died, the most dangerous thing a woman can do is draw attention to herself. In a chance encounter, Eleanore meets the enigmatic personal physician to the powerful Pope Clement and strikes a deal with him to take her on as his apprentice. Then, two pieces of earth-shattering news: the Black Death has made landfall in Europe, and the disgraced Queen Joanna is coming to Avignon. She is pregnant and in need of a midwife, a role only Eleanore can fill. The plague spreads like wildfire, leaving half the city dead in its wake. Desperate for a scapegoat, the people of Avignon follow a group of religious fanatics on a witch hunt, one that could cost Eleanore --- an intelligent, unwed woman; a talented healer --- everything.