Rescued from a pandemic's wreckage and raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft, orphan Nora Beady cares little for Victorian conventions. While other young ladies busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora perfects her sutures and anatomical illustrations. Women face dire consequences if caught practicing medicine, but in Croft's private clinic, Nora is his most trusted, and secret, assistant. That is, until the new surgical resident, Dr. Daniel Gibson arrives. He never suspects Nora is more qualified than he is, and to protect herself she'll have to play a new and uncomfortable role, a proper young lady. But pretense has limits. Confronted by suffering patients, Nora cannot hide her skill, even if it means giving Gibson the power to ruin everything she's worked for. And when she makes a discovery that could change the medical field forever, Nora faces an impossible choice: remain invisible and let the men around her take credit for her work, or let the world see her for what she is, even if it means being destroyed by her own legacy.