Hearts strange and dreadful
(Book)

Death has come to town. New England, 1821-Hester Stokely, an orphan with unusual abilities, struggles to find her place in the pious town of Wickstead. A house-servant in the employ of her uncle's upright family, Hester is treated as little more than a pariah by the judgmental townsfolk. When a deadly plague comes to town, Hester becomes indispensable as a healer. Yet as Hester watches the town's residents rapidly fall ill, she realizes that something more dangerous than disease has come to Wickstead. Soon the buried dead are exhumed on rumor of superstition, and occult fires burn fiercely into the night. As the townspeople turn on each other, a mysterious traveler arrives, furthering the growing paranoia. Hester must confront the dark forces which have invaded Wickstead, or all who live there may be lost... their souls included.