In Dr. Bloom's clinic, located in a resort area on the Italian coast, at the end of the 18th century, not everything is as it seems. Maria is a lonely little girl with no one to play with. She writes letters to her mother from the remote resort where she lives. It tells of pale English aristocrats, mysterious Russian nobles and their attentive servants. It tells of intrigue and secrets and strange faceless figures rising from the sea. She writes about the mysterious Mrs. Pond, who arrives there with her husband and family doctor, who will change everything. But what she doesn't tell her mother is the truth that everyone knows but no one speaks: that people come here to die. p>