Simonetta Perkins

Considered by Hartley to be his finest work, 'Simonetta Perkins' is a brilliantly observed tale of desire and guilt. Set against a glorious Venetian backdrop, it explores the very nature of physical temptation, to create a complex, psychological work, deeply reminiscent of Henry James.Visiting Venice with her mother, Bostonian ingenue Lavinia Johnstone soon tires of their fellow American tourists and of her mother's unstinting attempts to find her a husband. Instead, she chooses to spend her time alone, and her gaze soon falls on a local gondolier. Frustrated that his services are in such demand, she creates a fantasy world in which they are together - but as her imagination takes hold, the line between her two 'worlds' becomes increasingly blurred.