Marguerite, the daughter and granddaughter of illuminators – craftspeople who 'illuminate', or decorate the pages of books with bright colors and even gilding, lives on Pont Notre-Dame, a bridge in Paris. Her twin brother suffers from epilepsy. Marguerite watches over him, literally keeping him alive. Her mother would have preferred that Marguerite had been sick rather than her brother. She is constantly scolding and overburdening her daughter with chores. To make up for and escape from her confined existence, Marguerite clings to a vital manifestation of life: light and color.

She will earn her spot in the family business, but only after a fight.

Her entire life she has walked a line, a path circumscribed by Pont Notre-Dame and the Petit Pont. Every day, she crosses the Île de la Cité, from the illumination workshop to her godfather’s apothecary, where she buys pigments.

Until the day Marguerite meets Daoud. He’s a Moor – her people’s sworn enemy.

Before him, Marguerite’s physical world was clearly defined. She was tenacious for what was essential and knew how to make calculated compromises, but adventure and risk-taking used to be limited to abstractions and art. But all that will change with Daoud. Meeting him will force her out of herself and into life and the world.