This is the story of 16-year old Beatrice Spell, who was executed in Rome in 1599. She had murdered her father, but his cruel treatment of her, including rape, moved the people of the city to take her side, and has provided a destructive fascination for generations of writers and artists.

As we follow the stories of their lives and ambitions, we see how they suffered critical condemnation for their works about Beatrice, and were sometimes pushed to the brink of insanity. Her story of lust, passion and violence, contains a powerful sense of the forbidden, taboo that drives people over the edge. Beatrice's Spell is at once scholarly and utterly engrossing, carrying the power of her story through time.