Educated in the Florence of Cosimo de' Medici, trained in knighthood at
his father's mountaintop castle, Vittorio inhabits a world of courtly
splendor and country pleasures--a world suddenly threatened when his
entire family is confronted by an unholy power.
In the midst of this upheaval, Vittorio is seduced by the beautiful and
sinister vampire Ursula--setting in motion a chilling chain of events
that will mark his life for eternity. Against a backdrop of the
wonders--both sacred and profane--and the beauty and ferocity of
Renaissance Italy, Anne Rice creates a passionate and tragic legend of
doomed young love and lost innocence.