The East Riding of Yorkshire 1709.
The tiny village of North Burton. It’s March.
In years to come they will call it The Great Frost.
Meg and Nana know the cold will get worse – because everything always does. Meg’s husband is away at war, the roof is about to fall in and Carrick, the big rector up at St Michael’s, says the cold is a punishment for their sins.
When a wounded highwayman bangs on their door in the night, and they take him in, they don’t realise just how much worse it will get.