This opulent, romantic coming-of-age drama set at the height of Europe's belle e poque, is about a young man - Piet Barol - with an instinctive appreciation for pleasure and a gift for finding it. Piet applies for a job as tutor to the troubled son of Europe's leading hotelier: a child who refuses to leave his family's mansion on Amsterdam's grandest canal. As the young man enters this glittering world, he learns its secrets - and soon finds his life transformed.