In the Florence of the Medicis and the Renaissance painters, Claire Tarlenton, beautiful and talented musician, artists' model and scholar, is brought up by the foster parents who have cared for her since her real parents died in the plague of London. Despite her elegant surroundings and protected upbringing, Claire is conscious that she lives in a world of adventure and danger, born into the knowledge that war is permanent. Even as the Hundred Years' War is ending, the Turks are advancing on Italy and Claire and her family flee to Normandy. For Claire the move from a city of beauty and culture to a grey coastal village proves traumatic . . . Here, English by birth but French by nurture, Claire discovers half-denied questions about her true parentage, and about where her own future lies. Trapped within the violently divided loyalties of the community, she betrays and is betrayed by the man she loves. . .