The new bestselling novel now in paperback from international literary phenomenon Paulo Coelho author of The Alchemist. A chance meeting in Rio takes Maria to Geneva where she dreams of finding fame & fortune yet ends up working the streets as a prostitute. In Geneva Maria drifts further & further away from love while at the same time developing a fascination with sex. Eventually Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness 'sexual pleasure for its own sake' or risking everything to find her own 'inner light' & the possibility of sacred sex sex in the context of love. A daring modern fable about the nature of love & sex.