Paul Dukach is heir apparent at Purcell & Stern, one of the last independent publishing houses in New York, whose shabby offices belie the treasures of its list.

Paul remains obsessed by one dazzling writer: poet Ida Perkins, whose outsize life and audacious verse have shaped America's contemporary literary landscape, and whose longtime publisher happens to be Purcell & Stern's biggest rival.

When Paul finally meets Ida, at her secluded Venetian palazzo, she entrusts him with her greatest secret - one that will change all of their lives forever.