Beneath its veneer of respectability, Brighton is home to a shadowy underworld. Cordelia, a strikingly attractive widow, embarks on a voyage of sexual exploration and awakening. A sensuous affair with her maid is just the beginning, with the erotic adventures continuing when Cordelia meets an unconventional group of bohemian intellectuals. The enigmatic photographer, Peregrine, opens the door to a darker world, and Cordelia indulges in increasingly risky behaviour.

This sexually explicit, fast moving story explores the secretive and murky world of sex in Edwardian Brighton, through the eyes of a previously repressed, upper class woman who believes her body is her means to control men-but who is controlling who?