Kendra is a witch - ever since her family died of the plague she wandered immortal from town to town and country to country. When general opinion becomes fear of other the witch trials spread from culture to culture.
The young woman appears as a teen, even after her entire world has aged and become history. Kendra finds herself in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600s. There she works as a servant for a prosperous family and meets James. Kendra and James share a worldliness which comes from age greater than their appearances -- and Kendra finds herself falling for this warlock.
Before they can follow where their friendship and attraction might go, the young daughter of the family Kendra works for accuses her of witchcraft. Thus the Salem Witch Trials begin. Kendra is arrested and only freed through James's efforts in a Red-Riding Hood retelling.
Though her young man is to meet her in Boston their plans fall through. Kendra worries James was a victim of the trials until she runs across him again. The witch is in Europe when she hears of James's survival. A magic mirror allows Kendra to find her young man and check in on him through the ages.
Kendra discovers the mirror while helping a young woman ina Rumplestiltskin-like series of events. The miller's daughter uses the magic mirror to seek Kendra's aid as she chases her happy ending in feudal Germany. But Kendra loses sight of James.
During the great wars, Kendra finds her way to England and is caught in the Blitz of London. She meets a young woman who lives out the fairytale: East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Kendra's new friend and her husband lead a lonely Kendra back to James as she helps them recover from their encounter with trolls.
In modern time, Kendra has returned to the new world. After a stint in New York City where she helps a boy discover there's more to life than appearances, she moves to Florida where Kendra continues to pose as a teen.
Another new high school leads Kendra to meet two friends who have always been together and have been best friends for years. In high school, Amanda begins to blossom but Christopher remains less than impressive. Kendra watches their friendship and gives a magical nudge as the Ugly Duckling plays out between the longtime friends.
Throughout her long journey Kendra pines for her missing love, but maintains her own path and allows the mortals she's helping to carry the spotlight. Beheld is about 'otherness' and finding inner strength rather than beauty. Later middle and high school readers will enjoy Flinn's modern retells.
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