About this book:

In the shadow of the Black Death, a master founder journeys to a remote valley with a single sacred mission: cast a two-thousand-pound bell for the church of St. Jude. But as Thomas the Founder arrives in Oakhaven, he finds a village already frayed at the edges—abandoned carts on the road, barred doors at dusk, and whispered rumors of a sickness creeping north from the coast.

Against this gathering darkness, Thomas must coordinate an intricate medieval craft: digging the casting pit by hand, blending copper and tin in perfect proportion, and managing suspicious parish officials who watch every penny of their silver. Each chapter plunges deeper into the gritty, visceral world of bell-founding—where clay must be just right, furnaces must roar at the proper temperature, and a single bubble in the molten bronze can shatter years of hope.

*Casting the Great Bell of Oakhaven* is a meticulously researched historical novel that rings with authenticity—a tale of craftsmanship, community, and quiet courage as one man races to give a doomed village a voice before the silence of the plague falls forever. Perfect for readers who loved *The Pillars of the Earth* or *The Name of the Rose*, this is medieval historical fiction at its most immersive and elemental.