Murder and romance, innocence and experience dominate this masterfully constructed novel set in Rome during the mid-19th century.Three young American artists and their friend, an Italian count, find their lives irrevocably linked when one of them commits a murder. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s final novel symbolizing the Fall of Man is a captivating tale concerned as much with the power and beauty of art as with the striking, intimate details of the historic sites visited by the travelers.A provocative view at Americans abroad, this long-overlooked novel is "must reading" for anyone who relishes crimes of passion set against the picturesque details of Old World landmarks.