The story is set in 16th-century Valladolid and is about the merchant Cipriano Salcedo.

He becomes a central figure in the local Protestant Reformation and visits Germany to bring home literature considered heretical in Spain.

[1] Publishers Weekly called the book "an engrossing tapestry of historical and theological minutiae" where the city of Valladolid is the real main character.

[1] Alison McCulloch of The New York Times called the opening "a difficult entry point", describing the book overall as "absorbing" and "a poorly disguised history lesson" with "powerful final chapters".

[2] Kirkus Reviews called it "a poignant, although pale and rather bloated encomium to the early Reformation history" of Valladolid.