First published 2004
Mary Panton sits alone in her rented Tuscan villa, wrestling with a marriage proposal from a wealthy older man. One restless evening, she encounters Karl, a passionate refugee with nothing to lose. Their charged encounter spirals into unexpected violence, forcing Mary to make impossible choices that will shatter her carefully constructed social world. As dawn breaks over the Florentine hills, she finds herself entangled in a dangerous web of passion, consequence, and potential ruin. One impulsive moment can unravel everything.
Genres: fiction, drama, romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, moral-dilemma, social-commentary
Setting: Florence, London, Southeast Asia, Tuscany
Period: 20th Century
128 pages · Paperback · Vintage Classics
Content warnings: violence