Set in the mid-eighteenth century, Dacia Maraini's unforgettable novel tells the story of three generations of the Ucria family, seen through the watchful eyes of the young Duchess Marianna. Married at thirteen to her own uncle, set apart from others by her disability, she searches for fulfilment in a society in which women facer either marriage and endless childbearing, or a life of renunciation within the walls of a convent.