Perched in the Tuscan hills above Florence, a secluded villa becomes the setting for Mary Panton's reckoning with her own heart and marriage. When a single merciful gesture triggers a cascade of violence, she must turn to the disreputable Rowley Flint for salvation. Through their unlikely connection, Maugham explores how denying love—with all its turbulence and peril—is ultimately a denial of life itself.
