Clarissa Martinez, a biracial young woman has lived in seven different countries by the time she turns twenty. She thinks it's time to settle in a place she could call home. But where?
She joins a quest for the provenance of stolen illuminated manuscripts, a medieval art form that languished with the fifteenth century invention of the printing press. For her, these ancient manuscripts elicit cherished memories of children's picture books her mother read to her, nourishing a passion for art.
Though immersed in art, she's naïve about life. She's disheartened and disillusioned by the machinations the quest reveals of an esoteric, sometimes unscrupulous art world. What compels individuals to steal artworks, and conquerors to plunder them from the vanquished? Why do collectors buy artworks for hundreds of millions of dollars? Who decides the value of an art piece and how?
And she wonders—will this quest reward her with a sense of belonging, a sense of home?