No right to her own property, no right to vote, no right to contraception—and society certainly doesn’t condone Edith Van Eyes’ right to create erotic art like her scene from the notorious Bal D’Opera.

Her husband Laurence, a handsome Brooklyn preacher, sees this to his advantage as he eyes the vast fortune in the Widow Wellstone and plots a new life. He concocts a scheme with the help of actress Maude Goff, just off her sensational success as Medusa in The Moon’s Revenge at the Booth Theatre where real snakes curling around her head delighted audiences. The conspirators will exploit Edith’s belief in spiritualism and her deep love for her mother, whose tragic life ended horrifically. Love-struck housemaid  Luce agrees to assist.

Dramatic seances, intense sex, violent riots, political machinations and a murder trial that electrifies the city all follow. And weaving through the narrative is beautiful Mad Vivienne, working the streets and trying to escape the clutches of Blackie McKenna, pimp, robber and vicious enforcer for the Tweed Ring.

Who will succeed? Who will survive?