In the tradition of Possession and Girl with a Pearl Earring, this suspenseful, erotic novel seamlessly weaves fact and fiction into a brilliant tapestry of love, art, deception, and danger -- at the center of which lies a centuries-old secret.

In an old manor house on the legendary river Hull, Amy Dale has discovered a journal that holds the account of a thrilling duel of seduction -- and the key to a missing year in the life of a great artist. Over three hundred years ago, Rembrandt van Rijn challenged the poet Andrew Marvell for the affection of Amy's ancestor Amelia Dahl. But the fierce competition between those two men for Amelia's heart has repercussions for the new inhabitants of the manor.

Now, as Amy reads the pages of her namesake's intimate diary and plans the restoration of the old house, she finds herself engaged in her own game of wit, seduction, and desire with a scarred and enigmatic laborer. As their attraction explodes in intensity, the secrets of the past escape from history into the present with consequences they could never expect... and may not survive.