Jem is a joyful mystery to Alice. She is something to give thanks for. And when she disappears from Alice’s life, as suddenly as she entered it, a whirl of glamour, subversion and literary references, Alice is left bereft.

But then she meets Giovanni, presumptuous and hectoring, passionate and beautiful, who leads her back to her childhood friend and the mystery and chaos still surrounding her. Alice finds herself being seduced all over again …