This riveting tale of the struggle for the soul of a country—drawn from actual court records of the first witchcraft trial in Ireland—is the exciting story of one extraordinary noblewoman, Lady Alyce Kyteler.

When the Catholic Church brings the Inquisition—also known as The Burning Time—to Ireland, Lady Alyce refuses to grant the Church power over her, her lands, or her people, and refuses to stop the practice of The Old Religion. She is declared a dangerous heretic by an ambitious emissary of the pope—who stakes his future on bringing her to heel. To lose the battle with Lady Alyce, he tells his superiors, is to lose all of Ireland.

But Lady Alyce is just as determined to fight back against the invaders’ injustice, its forced imposition of a new religion, and its blatant land grab. After she outmaneuvers her rival in a court trial, there is no return: Against the penalty of being burned at the stake, she risks all to protect her people, her faith, and her beloved Ireland. Battle plans are laid, and what ensues is a vivid account of an astonishing but little-known historic figure and a gripping tale of bravery, treachery, guile, and redemption.