Evan Claver gives Ellis Barlowe his last chance at redemption, seeking him out as his mentor, or 'novice master': As a freshman college student boarding at the history professor's house, he unravels Barlowe's secret past as a saint, decades spent as a devout monk ministering to the sick and dying at a monastery hospice before renouncing his faith and rejoining the world. Yet Barlowe runs his household like the abbey he left behind, treating his boarder-student like one of his lowly novices, endeavoring to teach him about the realities of life. This role-play is complicated by their mutual passion for the same woman, who plays one against the other. As their roles blur and finally dissolve, the men form a crucial bond which ultimately changes the course of both their lives.