Following Nathaniel Hawthorne's footsteps in Rome, a disillusioned middle-aged writer seeks meaning in things of little value while mistaking the needs of the soul as trivial, and of the heart as unreliable. Inspired in part by Hawthorne's , this tale is also a bit of a travelogue, as significant events often take place in sites of historical mystery. Though somewhat dark and serious, is a story of contemporary people who find themselves - like Nathaniel - torn between the persons they had hoped to be and those they have actually become.