Banished from the court of Versailles after a series of scandalous love affairs
Charlotte-Rose de la Force is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens.
After Margherita's father steals & handful of parsley, wintereress and rapunzel from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off, unless he and his wife give away their little girl.
Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him sixty-four years later. Called La Strega Bella, she is at the centre of Renaissance life in Venice.
Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together to create a compelling tale of desire, obsession, black magic and the redemptive power of love.