Considered by Hartley to be the most accomplished of his works, Simonetta Perkins is a brilliantly observed tale of desire and guilt. Set against a glorious Venetian backdrop, it explores the nature of physical temptation, creating a complex psychological work deeply reminiscent of Henry James. With a Foreword by Margaret Drabble.

Visiting Venice with her mother, Bostonian ingénue Lavinia Johnstone soon tires of their fellow American tourists and 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 that she experiences when her gaze falls on an extremely attractive Venetian gondolier.