In this novel, the famed Venetian seducer and adventurer, Giacomo Casanova, relives a turning point in his life. In 1763, at the age of thirty-eight, he arrives in England seeking a respite from his restless travels and liaisons, to revive his jaded palate, and to shake off the lugubrious moods that have begun to trouble him. Yet before long the lure of company proves too hard to resist, and the dazzlingly pretty face of the young Marie Charpillon even harder. Casanova's pursuit of the elusive bewitcher drives him from exhilaration to despair and to flirt with the roles of laborer, writer, and country squire as he attempts to reinvent himself. Here lies a far more complex, fascinating figure than legend suggests, a charismatic man who, for all his conquests, begins to doubt his worth and purpose.