"And that's what I shall teach you... how to become a great woman."

Spain, 1848. The Marquesa of the ancient and noble House of Amontoní stands as the last of her name and title. While the woman's renowned beauty makes her desirable, the widow's legendary wealth has made her the most sought-after woman in all of Europe. But within Barcelona, a city born from the light of the Renaissance, she notoriously maintains her freedom from marriage at all costs.

Upon her niece's fifteenth birthday, the Marquesa sets about enlightening the girl on the truths of womanhood as no mother would dare. A life of convent education and staunch conservatism faces an unspeakable education on secret matters of love and feminine power. From it, the Marquesa forms much more than the mere edifice of a great woman, but the very future of her house.

A story of love, betrayal, revenge, and victory at any cost, The Ornaments of Love is a journey of passion that no woman of honor could permit herself to know about, and the only road to freedom that a young girl in the 19th century could ever hope to find.