Russell Todaro a young American translator moves to Paris to take stock ofhis life and goals only to further lose himself in the surprising twists fatehas in st... » 

Russell Todaro a young American translator moves to Paris to take stock ofhis life and goals only to further lose himself in the surprising twists fatehas in store for him. One night two men waving guns and knives break and entertheir Paris hotel room terrorizing Russell and his much older companion afamous American poet named Edward Cannon. The intruders not finding what theyseemingly expected leave without further incident but the baffling traumaticevents overwhelm Cannon who dies in his sleep later that night. Now Russell isleft to ponder the meaning of the attack what to do with the poetsunfinished problematic memoir and perhaps most importantly how toreconstruct and move forward with his own life. Hearing of the disturbingcircumstances of Cannons death an Italian writer Marina Vezzoli invitesRussell to recuperate at her villa in Tuscany. But what at first seems like agenerous invitation slowly reveals itself to be a calculated offer. AsRussells stay in Italy lengthens he begins to realize that the people in hislife are using or manipulating him most of all the poets New York publisherswho against the dying mans wishes are trying to acquire his unfinishedmanuscript. Looming over everything is the long and fascinating legacy of VillaGuidi where during Word War II a Jewish family hid in the subterranean floorslater undergoing a conversion to Catholicism. In an echo of this dramatichistory Russell is forced to undergo a conversion of his own in order to findredemption and meaning in his life. «