Impassioned Clay

When Olivia s mother dies, the girl and her father acquiesce in the dead woman s wish to be buried in the yard of Pinfold, the home that s been in the family for generations. While digging the grave for the devout Quaker, the two come upon the remains of a 17th-century woman. More startling, and of particular interest to the archaeologists brought in, is the artifact she s buried with: a scold s bridle, a gruesome device of torture once used to silence troublesome women and heretics. For Olivia, fascination with the dead woman grows into an obsession when she goes off to college and becomes a historian. When the skull of the woman identifies her as one Hannah Jones, Olivia begins searching in earnest. As historian/detective, she painstakingly uncovers documents that illuminate Hannah s extraordinary life as one of England s earliest Quaker proselytizers. Using found documents, Davies builds an exacting portrait of the turbulent time and instills a quiet majesty in her subjects.