Milly Theale is young and extremely wealthy. She is also fatally ill. Eager to experience life, love and happiness, Milly arrives in Europe with her companion, Mrs Stringham, ready for adventure. In London she meets, and is captivated by, the dazzling Kate Croy and her charming and handsome journalist friend, Merton Densher, whom Milly once met in New York, and has not forgotten . . .
Milly installs herself in a palazzo in Venice, and is quickly surrounded by her friends, old and new, some of whom have her best interests at heart. But Kate and Merton have a secret, and are relying on Milly to provide a solution to their own problems . . .
