1545. Margherita, a courtesan whose beauty has become a legend, lives as a recluse in Venice, impressing the townspeople with her luxurious red-gold hair and mysterious sensuality. Seeing Margherita in a portrait by Titian, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the grandson of Pope Paul III, falls in love with her and invites her to move to Rome with him. In the exquisite setting of the Eternal City, Margherita finds herself drawn into a bloody whirlpool of ambitions and passions. Through the interweaving of betrayal and hypocrisy in the novel Rome shines through as a powerful background. This city is brilliant and terrible, but the bright contrasts and contradictions make it irresistible.