It's 1906 in upstate New York, and 17 year old Mariette joins the convent of The Sisters of The Crucifixion. Mariette, who is beautiful and devout, is prone to visions, claims that Jesus speaks to her, and often performs extreme acts of penance. The convent is not accustomed to one as "glamorous" as Mariette, and is thrown into an uproar when she starts experiencing unexplained wounds on her hands, feet, and sides. Is Mariette a pious saint or a fraud? What is the relationship between madness and faith? Between spiritual ecstasy and sexual rapture? What happens when comfortable spiritual lives are shaken by unexplainable events? This novel explores these issues in prose that is both gorgeous and restrained.