"This captivating novel charts the journey of a woman caught between two worlds and two lives--one mired in dreary England and a life of convention, the other set in the vibrant Italian landscape holding the promise of sensual liberation. Alvina Haughton is fading into spinsterhood when she meets Cicio, a vaudeville dancer who draws her into a dance of seduction, reawakening her desire as she defies her stifling upper-class life. Reprint."