Accurate historical background and solid adventure combined in an absorbing tale of a young fifteenth century English journeyman stone mason. It is 1410 when Hugh has finished his apprenticeship and comes to Lynn to find work with Master Lynde of St. Nicholas lodge. As he makes friends with his fellow masons and settles down to work, the atmosphere of the sea town, the stone cutting, the seriousness of the masons themselves, rings true in the narrative. The adventures that befall Hugh- the knavery of a boy who had gone through apprenticeship with him, another master mason's snobbery towards Hugh's low social position- pave the way towards the honor he receives from carving a beautiful church window and being made a master himself.