Mexico City, 1649. The Spanish Inquisition holds sway over the capital and at its core lies one ambition: the submission of all to the Catholic faith. Fray Alonso is the most zealous advocate of their mission; amidst the veiled discords of the Holy Office, his diary reveals a world where politics and sanctity are intertwined as he seeks to win the promotion that will gratify his aspirations of both stature and piety. However, outmanoeuvered by his rivals in a struggle for power, Alonso is forced to leave the city on a seemingly futile journey northward where an unlikely friendship with a captured heretic will prove the catalyst for a revolution of his assumptions. His sole prisoner, Juan, a mute, embodies a strangely magnanimous grace. Devoid of a human voice, Juan forges a mysterious connection with Alonso that speaks for something greater than words: the belief in an all-encompassing love. As Alonso is forced to question all his received values, he is left with a choice between instinctual justice and his own pride and desire: their bond proves to be simultaneously a blessing and a test.
Lewis' engrossing narrative traces the search for a transcendent divine truth, which is, perhaps, beyond our comprehension. Turbulent and evocative, his tale asks ultimately; if God offers no epistemological answers, in what can we place our faith?