Who was she really, Lou Salomé? Willful, conniving girl, controlling femme fatale, or nurturing literary muse? Drawing on neglected historical sources and deftly weaving in the presentday character Anna Kane in pursuit of Lou, von der Lippe layers what is known about Salomé with what can only be imagined. This is a story of love's epiphanies and pain, a lost child, and the redemptive power of words.