Visiting Venice with her mother, Bostonian ingenue Lavinia Johnstone soon tires of the attentions of their fellow tourists and of her mother's unstinting attempts to find her a husband. Increasingly she withdraws into herself, her diary being the only outlet for her deep-seated frustrations. And it is in her diary that she begins to explore the extraordinary sensations she experiences when her gaze falls on Emilio, a local and extremely attractive gondolier.<BR>Wrestling with feelings of shame and longing, she finds herself unable to confess her attraction, even to her closest confidante. Instead she tells the sorrowful tale of Simonetta Perkins, a young lady facing the exact same predicament. But even this conceit ultimately offers little relief as she seeks to reconcile her conflicting emotions.<BR>Simonetta Perkins is an observed tale of desire and guilt. Set against a Venetian backdrop, it explores the nature of physical temptation, creating a complex, psychological work, deeply reminiscent of Henry James.