In Pompeii, in the summer of A.D. 79, Julia and Mitka appear to lead opposite lives. Julia is the daughter of a wealthy ship-builder; Mitka is an orphan. Julia bears the Curse of Venus--a withered arm; Mitka's beauty turns heads. Julia is free; Mitka is her slave.

Then Julia learns that her parents are planning to put her in the service of the Temple of Damia, the center of a cultish new religion, and Mitka will be sold to an awful man who plans to make her his concubine.

But when Mt. Vesuvius erupts, Julia's and Mitka's fates are forever altered, forcing them both to face the true meaning of freedom.

Genre: Historical