Under the glare of the Italian sun, secrets come to light…

Gracie Burton has been living quietly in Devon for the last forty years.  What neither her high-powered and distant daughter Carina, moody granddaughter Anastasia nor her gossipy friends in the Badley Compton Ladies Book Club know is that when Gracie was a young woman, she lived a clandestine life.

Far removed from grey, post-war London, Gracie moved to Italy as an apprentice art restorer for her charismatic yet unscrupulous art dealer uncle, Hans. Under his wing she spent her days immersed in masterpieces against the backdrop of the beatific Tuscan hills and her nights in the arms of her one true love.

But what terrible events conspired to send Gracie running back to England, abandoning everything and everyone, forcing her to bury her past so deeply that she never spoke of it again?

Now, stumbling upon an advertisement for an Italian cookery course in a Tuscan castle she instantly recognises, Gracie ploughs her life savings into one last trip.  When Carina and Anastasia dutifully accompany her they have no idea what, or who, has drawn Gracie to Castello Montefosco, a place she once fled from under a cloud and now compels her her to confront the truth.