Inspired by true events, this haunting novel intertwines the lives of two Black female artists more than a century apart. It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didn't let that stop her. Now, in 1887, living in Rome as one of the city's most established painters, she is ready to tell her fiancé about her difficult life. In 2019, an Italian art curator is desperately trying to bring to Europe her younger cousin, who is only sixteen and has already tried to reach Italy on a treacherous journey. While organizing an art exhibition the curator becomes more and more obsessed with the life and secrets of the nineteenth-century painter. Weaving together these two vibrant voices, Igiaba Scego has crafted a powerful exploration of what it means to be "other," to be a woman, and particularly a Black woman, in a foreign country, yesterday and today.