When the magnetist miraculously restores her vision, he both seduces the town and wins the heart of the girl. But universal adoration releases other, darker forces - jealousy, hysteria and the lust for power - as Meisner's chilling past is brought to light.

Is he a fraud, this charismatic stranger? Or a healer with phenomenal powers? Or both?

If people are cured where medicine has failed, which is more important - their recovery or the truth?