The year is 1556 in Venice--a wealthy, bustling, multicultural city--where 20-year-old English Protestant Richard Stocker is recovering from the execution of his friend Lady Jane Grey. Soon Richard finds himself caught up in the complexities of La Serenissima and involved with three of the city's most remarkable women-- Faustina Contarini, a nun imprisoned in a convent by her noble family; Yasmeen Ahmed, Muslim clerk and bookkeeper to the great artist Tintoretto; and Veronica Franco, artists' model, courtesan, and poet. Each has her own story to tell, but they have one thing in common--they are all daughters of the Doge, held captive by the contradictory laws and regulations of this teeming city.