13 May 1784, Venice Minguillo Fasan, heir to the decaying gothic Palazzo Espagnol is born. Yet Minguillo is no ordinary child he is strange, devious, and all those who come near him are fearful. Twelve years later Minguillo is faced with an unexpected threat to his inheritance - a newborn sister, Marcella. His untempered jealousy will condemn his sister to a series of fates as a cripple, a madwomen and a nun. But his insatiable quest to destroy her, he may have underestimated his sisters ferocious determination and her unlikely allies who will go to extraordinary lengths to save her ...