This is a story of such breadth and scope, with a cast of characters that is so glitzy, glamorous, and flawed, that not even a Hollywood scriptwriter would have dared make it up. There is Ivana, the famous socialite businesswoman who turns out to be a tender-hearted step-mother; Fedele, the schizophrenic only child of her husband, the famous businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli; Naomi, Fedele's exquisite Japanese wife who is diagnosed with terminal cancer the week after giving birth to Katerina; Stella, the stunning mother and social figure with alcohol issues who rises to new and unexpected heights as she copes with her son's mental illness. This book is informative on a host of subjects, ranging from the lifestyle of the International Super-Rich to the profundities of coping with terminal illness and mental disease. Due to its intelligence, insight and humour the appeal of this story and struggle should be universal.