In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen is forced to work as a servant in her cousin's household. She takes charge of the neglected home and locks wills with those around her - including the unusually tall and silent Thomas Carrier, who also labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and mysterious past.

As Martha comes to know him, she falls in love - and the two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures. She can confide the dark secrets of her youth, and Thomas slowly reveals the role he played in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves - in many forms - who hunt for blood.

Both a love story and a tale of courage and independence, The Traitor's Wife confirms Kathleen Kent's ability to craft powerful stories from the dramatic background of America's earliest days.