1871, Ashwell, Massachusetts. At the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds descends. Samuel takes the birds' appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He will start a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has so carefully guided his daughter's. It's not long before the students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms: rashes, fits, headaches, verbal tics, night wanderings. The school turns to the ministering of a physician, but as the girls' conditions worsen long-buried secrets emerge, and Caroline must confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities around her, the ones who insist the voices of the sufferers are unreliable.

The year is 1871. In Ashwell, Massachusetts, at the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds descends. Samuel, whose fame as a philosopher has waned in recent years, takes the birds' appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He will start a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has so carefully guided his daughter's. Despite Caroline's misgivings, Samuel's vision--revolutionary, as always; noble, as always; full of holes, as always--takes shape. It's not long before the students begin to manifest bizarre symptoms. Rashes, fits, headaches, verbal tics, night wanderings. In desperation, the school turns to the ministering of a sinister physician--based on a real historic treatment--just as Caroline's body, too, begins its betrayal. As the girls' conditions worsen, long-buried secrets emerge, and Caroline must confront the all-male, all-knowing authorities around her, the ones who insist the vo