Artemisia is a nun in a European medieval sort of country. Here, magic brought on a terrible calamity that has brought in legions of the dead to prey on the living. The clergy have taken over from the king that brought on this terrible calamity, and are trained to kill these wraiths.
Artemisia was possessed as a child, and the nuns from the convent of Saint Eugenia rescued her. Since then, she’s been very happy to stay at the convent, where she doesn’t usually have to deal with people. (She reads autistic in her confusion when having to interact with regular folks.)
When a very powerful wraith attacks the convent, the convent’s Mother sends Artemisia to find the sister that’s trained in their greatest relic – the reliquary of an actual revenant – the highest level spirit. That sister is dead, and Artemisia must take on the revenant, who is very much his own being, with a great many thoughts on the situation he finds them both in. They’re soon on a journey to the capital to stop other powerful wraiths from taking over the kingdom.
I liked this – the world is familiar, but with a good tweak on our old Catholic systems. And Artemisia is a good heroine. What she has to do is very hard for her, and honestly portrayed. I enjoyed it.