Based on and inspired by the the short and intense life of the famous Austrian painter, Egon Schiele, this is a brilliantly imagined novel which will enlighten and delight anyone interested in his mesmerizing art. Schiele is portrayed here as a young hedonist with a burning talent, reflected in the raw, provocative sexuality of his paintings and drawings. Crofts stays true to historical context and his characters' life stories while also imagining what might have been. The story of Schiele's creative genius is told in the context of portraying his city, Vienna, before World War I, and providing a startling insight into the lives of artists in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at that time.