The is a fictionalized version of how the printing press came to be. It follows the life of a scribe, Peter, who is put into the service of Gutenberg by his father, Gutenberg’s partner, in the new venture. The book is full of intrigue, both political and among the guilds of the time, not to mention the conflicts in the church community. Lots of history in this tale.
The author is a printer and runs a publishing establishment. She goes into minute detail about the physical printing process, which is sometimes hard to follow. But the brilliance of the idea and the steps that were taken to improve the press and type fonts may very well to have happened as she imagines.