The Alchemy from Antiquity, by Stephanie Simpson

In a fractured world of the post-Roman empire with plague and wars, one woman learns that healing can be its own form of rebellion.

In sixth-century Gaul, young Danae survives traumatic loss by turning to the language she understands best: herbs, wounds, animals, and the fragile bodies others overlook. Sent to Londinium to train as a midwife surgeon under her formidable aunt, she discovers both the power of medicine and the danger of being a woman who refuses to obey quietly.

Years later, Danae takes a position as a field surgeon at a military compound owned by a progressive, benevolent Roman general, determined to prove her skill in a world ruled by men, rank, and law. But her uneasy alliance with Stephan, an officer of Celtic ancestry with secrets of his own, draws her into the unrest of post-Roman Britannia, where plague, shifting loyalties, and ancient rivalries test everything she believes about duty, autonomy, and survival.

Richly researched and atmospheric about a rarely known time in history, The Alchemy from Antiquity is a historical saga of healing, defiance, and a woman forged by loss alchemized into strength.